Another Kind of Mutation
by Zeeza63
Summary: When a girl literally falls into the turtles lives they let her stay with them since she has nowhere else to go. Questions rise when robots are found hunting the kid.After prying, answers are found and the turtles find they have to kill to save each other
1. Unexpected

**Chapter One**

**Unexpected**

"Aw dude, not the pizza."

"Stop thinking about the damn pizza, Mikey, we have bigger problems!"

"Right, you guys are going down," Mikey said with a smile, twirling his nunchucks in both hands in circular blurs. Raph drew his sia in a fighting stance beside his brother in the alley. The Foot Ninja seemed to have come from nowhere, like always. Raph knew they shouldn't have gone to get pizza – which was now wasted on the ground when it was knocked out of their hands – but his annoying brother had insisted they go and get a few boxes. Now they were stuck in a fight of maybe fifteen against two. The odds seemed fun.

Raphael leapt forward, more than happy to give the first attack.

Mikey ran next. "For the pizza!" he exclaimed, ready to avenge one of his favorite foods.

The fighting began and the two turtles were doing well with only minor scratches. The two had taken down most of the Foot, the bodies falling unconscious to the ground, when Raph was knocked down.

Mikey turned to see what the problem was and had to hold back a laugh at first glance. Raph had been used to break someone's fall from… somewhere.

Raph rolled and jumped to his feet, ready to angrily take out whoever had knocked him down, but hesitated. Mikey's smile quickly disappeared. Though it was the middle of the night, and dark out they could tell by the size of the person it wasn't one of the Foot. When they stood up it was pointed out that they were badly hurt by their extremely unbalance stance, the way the legs couldn't seem to hold the rest of the body up, and the heavy breathing. "S-sorry 'bout that." It was a girl.

One of the remaining Foot Ninjas took the newcomer as an advantage and grabbed her, putting his sword by her throat with one word: "Surrender."

Before a decision was made on whether to or not the girl quickly grabbed the sword's blade - badly cutting her hand -, pulled it away from her, rammed the guy into the wall so he released her. She spun around, sword in hand and rammed the blade into the guy's heart. All before anyone could blink.

"Well," she said breath still heavy. "Anyone else… wanna try that again?"

The last four Foot Ninja jumped forward and was taken down between Mikey, Raph while all the girl could do was dodge blows.

When the fighting was over Raph turned to leave. "Come on Mikey."

"Hold on," Mikey said and turned to the girl. "Are you okay?"

The girl leaned against the wall of the alley. "I-I'm fine. Just- just go."

"There see, now let's go before someone shows up."

Mikey looked at Raph unsurely. Then nodded, it was probably best anyway.

Raph jumped up onto a fire escape, heading for the rooftops. Just as his younger brother was about to follow the girl tried to walk away and collapsed. Mikey stopped.

"_Come on_, Mikey," Raph said impatiently.

"But Raph, we can't just leave her here. Can't we just drop her off by the hospital or something?"

Raph scowled; sometimes he was sure Mikey just didn't get it. What if the kid saw them in the light? Maybe she had already saw them as something other than human? There go the headlines. It was all so irritating, and they had to go before someone came down this alley. "Fine," he said roughly. "Hurry up."

"No," the girl said, pushing herself up to hands and knees. "I'm not going… to the… hospital. I said I'm fine."

"Oh for crying out loud!" Raph exclaimed angrily. "Mikey we need to go, _now._"

Mikey shifted his weight from foot to foot uneasily. He couldn't just leave the kid in this condition. He stooped down. "Come on, you need help."

"N- not the… hospital."

"Okay not the hospital," Mikey said and picked her up, cradled in his arms. He jumped up to the fire escape and followed a heated Raph onto the footsteps.

"Okay genius, where do you plan on taking her?" Raph demanded.

"Uh- uh…"

"Can't drop her at the hospital, might as well take her to the lair, right?"

"Could we?"

"I'm being sarcastic!"

"Please, Raph? And we were back anyway with the pizza, which we now don't have."

Raph clenched his fists; his brother was so impossible… This argument wasn't going anywhere. Why couldn't Mikey understand what would happen if they were found out?! But if they did take her to the lair she couldn't necessarily get far and Don could maybe do something to wipe her memory or something. Who knew what he could do with those computers?

With a large huff Raphael pointed off the building. "Go."

Mikey smiled and started off.

Grumbling angrily to himself Raph followed.

By the time they hit the dimly lit sewers the girl had fully lost consciousness. By the time they got to the lair Raph was fully in a horrible mood and went to his room/gym as soon as they entered the main room.

Knowing Donnie would know a thing or two about medical care and things Mikey went to his room where the guy was sure to be working on another invention or something. When he got to the doorway sure enough Don had his back to the door, hunched over a paper covered in scribbled notes.

"Uh, Donnie?"

"I'm busy Mikey."

"But Donnie-"

"No I don't have time for videogames, movies, an eating contest, or watch you do you're latest skateboard trick because of it's supposedly aerodynamics. Maybe later."

"But this can't wait for later, Don! Just like- like when computers get virus-thingies!"

Donnie huffed. "What Mi-" he started and turned around, then froze "key…"

Author Note: This is my first try at a Fan Fiction, and forgive me if there is some OOC. This story is based off somewhere in the 2003 series. Can't exactly say where in the story line though…

Anyway, I hope you like the rest of the story, this is more of a prologue, though it says chapter one.


	2. Alex No Name

**Chapter Two**

**Alex No Name**

It was amazing how well the body could register what wasn't wanted. In this case it was soreness; a lot of soreness.

Aside from the fact she couldn't move her right hand, everything seemed great enough. Heart was still beating, air still going to the lungs, thinking was still her own, the metal of an operating table not under her…

But… she thought. Where am I?

The soreness turned to a throbbing pain as the girl tried to move her head to take in her surroundings as she opened her eyes. Posters, stacks of comic books, sports equipment… was that a chair made from used pizza boxes? Yep, defiantly not something she remembered.

Okay, gotta figure out what's going on… she thought and pushed herself out of the bed and landed on the floor, legs forgetting that they're the key part of standing up. When she got to her feet – with little balance – she took in her body.

The right hand was completely covered in bandages explaining why she couldn't really move it; the rest of her body had bandages everywhere also. On the wall she found a broken mirror. Passed the bandages that wrapped around half her head there was the hard to miss unnaturally pale skin, blood red eyes, and braided navy blue hair.

"Okay, I'm still me," the girl muttered. "Now where am I?"

She located a doorway and was about to walk out when she heard voices, and stayed by the wall to listen.

"Woohoo high score, awesome dude!"

"Mikey would ya listen?!"

"You're just jealous of my mad skills."

"We're not talking about the videogame, Mike."

"Hey, what'd you turn it off for?"

"This isn't gettin' blamed on me."

"No one's getting blamed for anything, Raph. Now Mikey, just tell us why you thought it was a good idea to bring a normal human here."

"I couldn't just leave her there, bro."

"The logical thing would have been taking her to the hospital, not here."

"I told 'im that!"

"But she didn't want to go to the hospital…"

"Still say we should have jus' knocked the kid out an' took her to the hospital anyway."

"Raph, that would have been inappropriate on too many levels."

"Do you have a better suggestion?"

"That's beside the point!"

"Guys! We can't change what's already happened, especially when time travel isn't possible yet…"

"I was just saying tha'-"

"Listen to Donatello, do not dwell on things in the past. Now what trouble has my sons fighting with each other?"

"Mikey brought a human here, sensei."

"A human?"

"A girl about fourteen to be exact, but…"

"Yes, Donatello?"

"Well when I was checking for broken bones, just to be sure, I found the left arm to be almost magnetic."

That got the girl to snap to attention. Who were these guys? She carefully looked around the corner of the doorway. What she saw came as a small surprise. There were five… creatures standing in the big room of the place. One of them was a human sized graying rat that stood on its back legs like a person; he (more than likely male) wore a brownish robe-thing and carried a stick like a cane. The other four were more than likely mutated (actually all five of them were probably mutated) turtles who had some features like - and the body language of - a human. One was sitting on a couch twisted around to look at the others; he had this interesting innocent expression. The second had the most muscles, and stood there with crossed arms, tucked in the belt around his waist was a pair of sai. The third was the one that had just talked, and had a bo staff tied to his back and the last one had his back to the doorway so she couldn't see much, but the twin katanas tied to his back were hard to miss. All four wore different colored bandanas over their eyes: the one sitting down was orange, the one with crossed arms was red, the one with the bo staff was purple, and the last one with the swords was blue. They also matched in wearing knee and elbow pads, along with a kind of belt around their waists.

The one in orange must have noticed her standing there because he grew a big smile and waved, causing the others to look.

The girl gave an awkward smile. In truth, it wasn't their appearance that she was unsure about, she was never comfortable being the center of attention.

"This is the human, yes?" the rat said.

"Uh-huh," the one that waved nodded.

"You can come out here, if you like, young one."

The girl gripped the side of the doorway, considering it. The rat sounded nice enough, almost fatherly even. Finally figuring she had no other choice she stepped out into the open, taking in her surroundings. It was a big two story room, a ledge stuck out of the wall to reach the rooms on the second level. At the back of the room was a pile of TV monitors hooked together along with some videogame platforms sitting around them, the couch faced many TV's. The place relied solely on electrical lights for light; because there were no windows, it gave her the feeling of being underground. There were some other doorways that lead out of the room. Near one of the walls was a set up for martial arts practice, like the equipment in the movies. Directly beside the doorway she just left was a half pipe for skating. Off in a corner there was a space that seemed pushed back in the wall acting as a kitchen- or some kind of eating area at least? On the extremely high ceiling there were plenty of cables and visible rafters keeping the roof up mixed with the lights.

In the middle of walking a foot slipped out from under her and her rump made a hard contact with the floor, sending a shockwave of pain up her spine.

"Mikey we keep telling you to put your skateboard away," the one wearing blue scolded.

"Sorry," the one in orange – Mikey – muttered.

The one in red snickered.

The one in purple rolled his eyes at the red one and walked forward. He held a hand out to help her up; only three fingers. She took the hand and was lifted to her feet. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Just… sore. Uh- where am I?

"Our lair," Mikey answered. "Though it's in the sewers you get used to the smell, and the miles and miles of tunnels are great for shredding on a skateboard."

"You're not freaked out by our appearance?" the one that helped her up asked.

The girl looked them over again. "Well, there are really only two ways for me to see this. One: I'm dreaming, but since nothing's trying to kill me here I'm probably awake. Two: I've seen a lot weirder things than you guys." She looked around again. "The sewer, huh? This underneath New York City… the newspapers and news reporters would have a field day."

The one in red drew his sias with a scowl.

The girl put her hands up in surrender. "I didn't say I was going to tell anyone. It was just an observation. Hm… blackmail maybe- I'm kidding!" she said quickly, taking a few steps back at the look she was getting. "You can put those away now, Raph."

The one in red's face went blank with surprise. "How'd you know my name?!" he demanded. She'd guessed right from the voices she remembered from the night before.

"I was hurt, not deaf. I can match voices fairly easily, and you guys did say each other's names in front of me. Oh and sorry, again, for falling on you. I gotta say though, you're not the softest thing to land on."

Mikey held back a laugh. "That was funny."

Raph just scowled.

"Oh, and thank you Donatello for bandaging me. I must have looked like cra-"

The rat smacked the bottom of his stick on the ground, cutting her off. "There is no swearing in my presence, young one."

"Oh, sorry. Um, if you don't mind, what are your names?" she asked the rat and mutant turtle in blue.

"I am Leonardo," the turtle said "and this is our sensei Master Splinter."

"Now you know our names, what is yours?" Splinter asked.

"Alex," she answered simply, looking around the room once again. There was a question on her mind but she couldn't get herself to voice it, until Mikey brought the subject up for her.

"So now what?" he asked.

"I think it would be best if we got Alex home, when she promises not to tell anyone about us," Leonardo said.

"Can't she stay?" Mikey asked. "I mean, like, we can't exactly leave her home without an explanation, right?"

"I don't mind staying," Alex muttered, not sure if she wanted to be heard. She hated awkward situations, especially kinds like this.

"Alex, don't you think your parents would be worried about you right now?" Leo asked.

Alex uncomfortably stuffed her good hand down her jean pocket. "What parents?"

"You must have some relatives or something that you're staying with," Donny said.

"Yeah, we might not know much about human kids, but we do know that they aren't exactly on their own until an age a lot older than you," Raph put in.

Alex turned away from them. "Mm, not always- wow this is a well made half pipe."

Leo crossed his arms. "You're changing the subject."

"What subject?"

"Alex…"

"What?"

"Are you homeless?" Mikey said bluntly.

"Nice, Mike," Raph said sarcastically.

Mikey put his palms up in an innocent look.

"I'm not homeless," Alex said sharply.

"Then where's your family?" Donny asked.

Alex scratched her head. "Define 'family'."

Raphael had to step forward; the discussion was getting on his nerves. "Look kid, either you got a place to go or not. Stop feeding around the bush and answer us." Alex just stood there with her back to him. Raph grabbed her shoulder to turn her around. As soon as he touched her she spun around and punched him right in the chest, knocking him back and falling over the couch's arm rest.

"Awesome!" Mikey said with a laugh. "Dude, Raph got knocked down by a girl."

"Shuddup Mikey!"

"Oops, heh, it's a bad reflex," Alex said sheepishly, rubbing her knuckles. "I have a problem with getting grabbed from behind."

"Got it," Raph said, getting to his feet.

"Like fists of steel," Mikey said.

Alex looked to the side. "Something like that."

"You changed the subject again," Donny pointed out.

Alex sighed. "Fine, I don't have a family. But I _do _have a home. I just… can't get to it."

"Why?" Mikey asked.

"It was overrun by some punks with a lot of gear. I wasn't exactly ready for them when they hit by surprise. Guess I was lucky to get out of there in one piece, and with the energy to jump a few rooftops, but on the last one I kind of forgot to jump and Raph knows what happened next."

Raph twirled his sai. "Well let's go teach those punks a lesson. We know what its like to get pushed out of a home. It ain't right."

"No, they can have it. It was a rundown shack. The roof was probably going to fall on my head any day now, anyway. I can find another place. There're plenty of rundown, abandoned places in the city. Its New York, I could probably find an abandoned warehouse by the docks."

Mikey stood up on the couch, arms out wide. "Why not just stay here?"

"She doesn't have anywhere else to go, and it would be better for her health in her current condition," Donny put in.

"It's up to Master Splinter," Leo said.

Splinter nodded. "I do not see why not."

"No really, guys, I-"

"Aw shut up already and say yes," Raph said. "Just ignore Mikey and you'll keep your sanity."

"You're not so sane yourself, bro."

Alex gave a small smile. Well that was easy, she thought. Hopefully none of them figure out that that was a trick… It seemed like the matter was closed, though one question did occur to her. "Uh, where would I sleep?"

"You can have Raph's room," Mikey announced.

"Say what?! She can have your room!"

"But I need the space for my vast collections of priceless comics and DVD's. All you need room for is all that hot air in your head."

"Gr…" Raph jumped for Mikey, but the younger of the two quickly jumped off the couch. Raph leapt to his feet and chased after his brother around the lair. "Come here so I can let out some of _your _hot air!"

Alex watched the two. "Does this always happen?"

"Yes," Leo sighed.

"Huh," Alex had a feeling she was going to like it here; finally a group stranger than her in appearances. She wondered what they would think when they found out about her secrets. Maybe agreeing to stay wasn't such a good idea…


	3. Robotic Pests

**Chapter Three**

**Robot Pests**

"Wakey, wakey…"

Alex groaned and swatted at what was poking her in the head.

"Wake up sleepy head…"

Alex cracked an eye open to get a vision full of Mikey's face. She gave a groan of annoyance and covered her head with a pillow.

"Come on Mike, leave her alone."

"But what about my Saturday morning cartoons, it's a new episode!"

"Mikey they're not _that _important. Besides, it was your idea to give her the couch."

There was muttering about not understanding the importance of watching the 'much needed to watch' show. Then there was the sound of the TVs turning on as Mikey settled himself on the floor in front of the couch.

Pressing the pillow down over her head Alex went back to sleep.

After what felt like seconds later she woke back up to the smell of food. Alex sat up and sniffed the air; pizza. Her stomach growled at the scent. When was the last time she ate decently anyway?

She tried to get off the couch and met the floor. Her legs still didn't get the concept of cooperating to get off a surface after lying down. With a grimace she got to her feet, rubbing the small of her back where she landed on a videogame controller.

Following the smell she found the four turtles sitting around a table in the kitchenette, Mikey making a good mess while chomping down on his slice. She walked over to them. Pizza and soda for breakfast, why not? Or, for all she knew, it could have been time for dinner. The microwave on a counter read 8:45 PM, wow she slept all day.

Mikey tossed her a can of soda with a big smile. Alex opened the can without noticing the expectant look on Raph and was met with a sticky, wet explosion. Mikey and Raph burst with laughter and slapped high fives– or threes.

Alex threw the mostly empty can at Mikey's head and grabbed a slice of pizza from the box.

A few hours later the guys were in training with Splinter, Raph and Leo were brawling when Don realized someone missing. "Mikey have you seen Alex?"

"Uh… she said something about needing to go somewhere."

"Man Mikey, you ran her off with that stupid prank."

"Did not… did I? It was just a joke."

"Not everyone sees everything as funny as you, Mike."

Alex dropped down and landed with a splash. Now that she had mostly clean, un-sticky clothes and the rest of her few belongings in the bag on her back there was no turning back. She tried to make herself believe that things would be better off in the sewers, it wouldn't be too bad. Biggest problem was getting used to the stink, which could take time.

She walked through the dirty water trying to recall the way she had come to get back to the lair. She was in a better mood now that she could walk more freely with only the bandages around her right hand left.

I guess that's one of the few good things about me, she thought while looking at her hand; through her time alone in the city having an unnatural ability to recover from almost any major injury in a matter of hours had been a small blessing from her past. Sure grabbing a sword by the blade like she did was completely stupid but it was better her hand than her throat, which was one injury that couldn't heal fast enough.

A sound pulled her out of her thoughts and she froze. Please don't let it be…

A loud clicking sound echoed down the tunnel, followed by buzzing. A light lit up a tunnel that branched off the one she was in. The buzzing sound grew louder and then a creature appeared hovering in midair.

Oh no. Alex took a few slow steps back. It was a robot the size of a full grown pit bull with the jaws to fit. It looked like a huge bug with its mechanical wings; the eyes were like flashlights that searched the sewer. It reacted to the sound of splashing and quickly turned in that direction. It slowly flew where the splashing had come from. From the sides it let out a green gas that would make anything with lungs cough. And a cough happened. The flashlight eyes snapped to the wall of the tunnel and found Alex pressed against the wall.

The girl quickly ran for it as the robot gave chase. The thing was fast. Alex knew how to be faster but if she used them the robot would just use a net, and she couldn't let push them out during a chase.

Splashing down the tunnels she sharply turned a corner trying to shake the thing off her tail. It wasn't working out so well and it was gaining, jaws snapping.

Half way down the tunnel the sound of buzzing doubled and a second bug robot appeared up ahead coming towards her. She stopped; there was nowhere else to go. Then she noticed a ladder leading aboveground that the robot behind her just passed. Diving under the robot she scrambled forward and quickly climbed the ladder.

Before she could get to the top the bugs were already under her. One grabbed her shoe. She kicked at it and finally bashed it against one of the ladder rungs. It let go and she quickly went to the top of the ladder and pushed up on the manhole cover. It put her in an alley.

She crawled out onto the ground and jumped up. The robots were right behind her as she ran through the twisting alleys. At some points she dashed out of the alley and crossed the street into another one. After jumping behind a dumpster for cover she held a hand over her mouth to quiet her breathing as the robots passed. They turned the corner and she stood up and turned to run the way she had come when she ran into someone. Backing up she found some tough looking guys wielding metal pipes and baseball bats. When she turned around she found herself surrounded; great, just great…

"This alley belongs to the Purple Dragons and people can't pass through without paying," one of them said, probably the leader.

Alex pulled out her empty pockets. "Sorry, but I'm broke."

The leader tapped a pipe against his palm. "People always pay one way or another. I'm sure we can work out a deal, _girly_."

Alex clenched her fists. She never really fought physically; her old home had been covered in booby traps and defenses to keep unwanted company at bay. But how hard could fighting be? She had knuckles of steel; it was just a matter of punching in effective places… right?

The guys took a step forward; shrinking the space around her.

Alex made sure to wipe her face of any emotion; she didn't want to give anything to urge them on.

One of the guys behind her grabbed her arm and reflex took over. She jumped back, landing on his foot, and rammed her elbow into his stomach. Another guy came forward and swung a bat aimed at her head. She ducked under it and rushed forward, knocking him in the stomach and sent both of them to the ground.

Before she could get up one of the guys pulled her to her feet by her braid and held tight. Alex reached up behind her, pulling on the part of the braid closer to her head to escape the pain of hairs threatening to be yanked out. She was stuck in that position, unable to pull her hair free.

"You little bitch," the guy she had elbowed growled, holding his hurt foot.

The leader went forward and grabbed Alex under the chin to get a better look at her. She glared at him. "Now don't look at me like that. I'm the only one standing between you and my boys here." Alex jerked out of his grip and bit his hand. He yanked back with a small yelp of shock, looking at the bite mark in disbelief. "Why you little…" He slapped her across the face, snapping her head sideways. In anger Alex brought a leg back and tried to kick him but he caught her foot. He yanked back, pulling her off balance, sending a shot of pain from her hair getting pulled again before she was let go and fell on her back.

The leader stood over her, foot on either side of her waist. He crouched down, "I like the ones with a little fight, makes things more interesting."

"Hey scuzzbuckets, didn't your mom ever teach you not to hit a girl?" a voice called. At the beginning of the alley was some guy wearing a goalie mask over his face, with a golf bag on his back though there was more than just golf clubs in the bag.

"Hey it's that mask wearing punk that's always gettin' in our business."

The guy walked forward, drawing a hockey stick from the golf bag. "I'm glad I'm well known. In that case you should know how this'll go down. So back off and I might go easy on ya."

The leader straightened up. "Get him!" he ordered.

The guys rushed forward for the guy at once. The guy took a stance and bashed at them as they came. He got through half of them when one bashed his bat down on the hockey stick, snapping it.

"You're gonna pay for that." He drew two baseball bats, twirled them expertly and bashed through the remaining few. Beaten and bruised the guys that had rushed forward scrambled to their feet and ran off. The guy walked forward for the abandoned leader.

The leader backed away holding his hands up in surrender. "Hey man, take it easy."

The guy in the mask just kept coming. "It's too late for the easy deal," he held a bat up to swing but the deserted leader turned and ran with tail between his legs. The guy stopped and put the bats back in the bag. He held out a hand and helped Alex up. "You okay?"

"I'm fine. I could have taken them," Alex muttered. "I gotta go." She turned and started to walk away when a buzzing reached her ears. She stopped mid-step, not again…

Two of the bug robots came around the corner. Alex backed up, turned, and ran. The robots sped up in chase. The guy in the mask swung at the things but they dodged and continued; the girl their only target.

Alex was about to run out of the alley when she was cut off by three more robots. She skidded to a stop and backed up. These things always seemed to appear out of thin air.

She was surrounded, again, when suddenly a yell cut over the robots' buzzing.

"Cowabunga!"

Four forms dropped from above. One sliced a sword through the middle of a robot as it practically landed on it. One brought down a staff on a second robot, knocking it to the ground where it smashed. One stabbed a robot on both sides with a pair of sai. The last one whacked the remaining two robots with a pair of nunchucks sending them against the alley's walls where they smashed.

"You could have left one for me."

"You were too slow Casey," Raph said, punching the guy in the arm. Casey playfully punched back, Raph punched back a little harder, and they continued hitting each other harder and harder until they were rolling on the ground in a fight.

"Alex, why'd you run off?" Mikey asked.

"Run off? I told you I was going to go get what I could of my things if I'm going to stay with you guys and I had to get a change of clothes since _someone_ dumped soda on me."

"Mikey you couldn't remember that?" Leo asked.

"He was playing videogames when I told him."

"Wait, didn't you say your place was taken over by punks? How'd you get your stuff?" Donny asked.

"Uh- I kept a spare backpack with the basics in it away from my place just in case something like that ever happened," Alex quickly said.

Donny picked up one of the least destroyed bug robots. "What are these things?"

"I don't know, but they've been showing up for the last couple months," Alex said. "They won't leave me alone. Usually I'm able to outrun them. My legs must be weaker from the other day."

"Yeah speaking of which, where're your bandages?" Mikey asked. "Last time we saw you, you looked like a mummy."

"I heal fast?" Alex tried, wishing they'd stop asking questions. "Anyway, you guys know him?" she quickly changed the subject, pointing to Casey who was still going at it with Raph.

"Yeah, he's one of the humans we're actually in contact with," Donny said dismissively.

"And one of the rare ones that don't go all 'Eeek!' or 'Get away you horrible, disgusting monsters!' or 'stay away you freaks' on us," Mikey said doing overly exaggerated impressions.

"Or something like that," Leo said. "It's a little odd that you took our existence so calmly."

Alex shrugged. "I told you I've seen stranger things." She turned to leave the alley. "Now can we go? I'm tired and want enough sleep so I don't have to have Mikey wake me up so he can have the couch to watch cartoons."

"But I needed to watch them. I haven't missed a single Saturday morning yet," Mikey said with pride "and I'm not going to break that awesome record."

Donny rolled his eyes. "Mike you watch too much TV."


	4. Left Behind

**Chapter Four**

**Left Behind**

Alex looked over Donny's shoulder. "What are you- why is that there?!" she exclaimed.

Donny didn't even look up from the bug robot. "The circuitry is very ingenious," he complimented the creator. "Whoever built this thing knew what they were doing. The DNA tracker explains why they left Casey alone and went right for you." A spark shot up from the dissected robot.

Alex backed up. "Just keep that thing away from me." She turned around and hurriedly walked away.

Leaning against the back of the couch she watched Mikey destroy alien after alien with a plasma blaster on the TVs. After half an hour of laughing at explosions Alex took up a second controller to show Mikey how to correctly blast aliens to infinity and beyond in versus mode.

"Gah, stupid controller!" Alex exclaimed as her character went down.

Mikey laughed, both of them sitting on the edge of the cushions. "Its like you're not even trying."

"I only have one hand!" Alex defended as she held the controller in her left hand and furiously jamming the main button down with one thumb. She huffed and pushed pause.

"What'd you do that for?" Mikey whined.

Alex bit at the knot holding the bandage around her right hand in place and pulled the wraps off. There was a nice scar on her palm from grabbing the sword blade a few nights ago. She flexed the hand and correctly held the controller in both hands. "Okay Mikey prepare to get your shell handed to you."

"Eat my plasma ray!"

"Would you guys turn that down!" Leo yelled over the noise that had slowly escalated while they played.

"What?" the two called together.

"I said-!"

"Can't hear you!" Mikey called over his shoulder. A massive explosion erupted from the speakers drowning out whatever could have been said after that. The sound was suddenly cut off when the TV was muted. Mikey and Alex slowly looked behind them to see an angry Leonardo holding the remote. The two gave guilty smiles.

Before Leo could do anything Raph cut things short. "'Ey guys, Casey just called on April's Shell Cell, he said he found it in the streets and her antique store's a wreck."

Leo flipped the TV to a news channel just in time to see a live video of a store that's been badly broken into. The new reporter's mouth was moving but there was no sound since the volume was still muted. The scene changed to get a close up of a red flame with three points at the top. Though the symbol was absolutely meaningless to Alex it seemed to get the turtles worked up.

"Come on," Leo said, dropping the remote. Mikey jumped the back of the couch, Donny left the bug robot on the work table and the four headed for the sewers.

"Can I come?" Alex asked.

They stopped.

"Uh, this could be really dangerous," Donny said.

"Its best left to us ninjas," Leo reassured.

Alex gave a 'you-don't-have-to-sugar-coat-it' look. It was obvious they thought she was useless in a fight and would just get in the way. "Okay, see ya later," she said and lay down on the couch with the remote as the guys left.

After flipping through a couple channels she declared TV boring and turned the multiple sets off. Looking around for something to do she picked up Mikey's skateboard and tried out the half pipe. She gave up after landing on her face.

The place felt empty as she wandered through it, she went through the fridge and picked up a soda, only to put it back realizing she didn't really want it. She suddenly felt like an outsider.

After a while her attention turned to Don's work table. She glared at the robot. "Not so tough with your guts strewn everywhere now, are you?" She got a weak spark in reply. "Yeah I thought not. So, enmmm," she stuck her tongue out at it.

Now really bored she turned to the training equipment and started punching one of the dummies. It was so much easier to fight something that didn't hit back… or move at all.

Behind her more sparks came from the dismantled robot. While the girl wasn't paying attention one of the eyes blinked on. It started to pull itself together until its general body was put back together and the wings flapped. Weakly at first, then faster and stronger until it lifted its body off the table, by this time Alex had already become bored with the dummy and had picked up a spare pair of nunchucks that were crudely made with two short wooden poles that were different in lengths held together by rope instead of chain.

Alex wasn't aware of the buzzing sound until after she had hit herself in the face with the weapon and stood there swearing and holding her pulsing nose. She turned at the sound and forgot about the throbbing pain.

Dropping the nunchucks she turned for the sewers and ran for them, but the robot beat her to the tunnel. She backed up. The thing might have been in some bad shape but Donny hadn't gotten to dismantling all the weapons yet.

The robot came forward, a small rod unfolding underneath it. When it was fully unfolded it stuck out in front of the machine, sparks emitting from the end like some kind of Tazer. The electrical end shot forward on a chain. Alex just barely dodged it by jumping to the side, tripped on a weight and fell.

The robot quickly came forward; the chain already reeled back in. Alex crawled back; one hit from that rod and it would be a deep fried brain with a side of lost consciousness. She backed into the wall and watched as it quickly came closer before she could make a run for it. Alex put her arm in a pathetic attempt of a shield, waiting for the shocking pain. But before the electric rod could reach her the robot was run through with a weapon moving so fast it was a blur. When the robot hit the wall and fell unmoving to the floor it showed the weapon to be a walking stick.

When Alex looked around Splinter was retrieving his walking stick, she'd forgotten about him and was surprised. That simple stick had penetrated metal?

"Holy shi- ow!" She rubbed her head where the stick had whacked her.

"I have told you Alexandra that swearing is not permitted in my presence."

"Right, sorry," Alex said. Man that stick hurt. She got to her feet. "Uh, thank you."

"These devices seem to be very persistent," Splinter said.

"I'd be lying if I said this hasn't happened hundreds of times before. But I'd also be lying if I said they wanted me dead," Alex said quietly. "The robots are only collectors."

"Is there are a reason behind such drastic actions?"

"Yeah, but I can't say why."

"I see you do not trust me."

"I mean no disrespect," Alex assured. "But it's not a matter of trust; it's a matter of secrecy. If that made sense…" Was trust and secrecy the same thing? It probably was. "I mean… uh…" How could she say it without accidentally insulting? She didn't want to get hit by that stick again. "There are some things I'd rather keep in the dark. You understand, right?"

"I'm sure you have your reasons."

Alex sighed with relief. "Thank you for understanding, Splinter." With a big breath she decided to ask the question that had been getting to her for a while. "Uh, Splinter, if you don't mind. How'd you and the guys get here- I don't mean here specifically, but _here, _like, here living under New York with almost no one knowing?"

Splinter looked at her.

Alex put her hands up, "Just healthy curiosity is all," getting ready to jump away at any sign of the walking stick coming for her head.

"Follow me," he said and led her into his room. The place looked very Japanese with a straw mat on the floor, there were symbols carved out of wood on the walls, ancient looking weapons hung on the walls, candles acted as lights around the room, masks and souvenirs of probably past adventures took up a set shelves on one wall, in the corner was a teapot over a small fire… the only thing in the room that looked like it came from modern New York City was a group photo on one of the walls with Splinter and the four turtles.

Alex sat on the floor as instructed and was given a cup of tea. She wasn't one for the bitterness of the drink but took it anyway; she seriously didn't want to get whacked by that stick again.

Sitting in front of her, legs under him, Splinter explained their origin. How he learned ninjutsu as a pet to a Hamato Yoshi, when his master died from this Shredder-guy he became a sewer rat. Then one night he witnessed some teen jump into the road infront of sixteen-wheeler to push someone out of the way, when the truck swerved to miss a container of toxic goo fell out. The container bounced along it startled a kid on the sidewalk and dropped a bowl with four turtles in it. The bowl shattered and the turtles fell into the sewer along with the toxic container. When Splinter went to the sewer he found the turtles covered in the goo and he got into contact with it also. From there they slowly mutated and grew into what they were today. Over the years Splinter had named them after his favorite renaissance artists and taught them in the ways of the ninja and taught them to stay away from the surface world since humans wouldn't understand their appearances… though they usually don't listen.

"Wow," was all Alex could come up with. It was an interesting story, though it was something she would expect out of a comic book. She did wonder one thing but wouldn't ask, not yet.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Two days later Alex watched as she sat on the back of the couch while the guys were in a training session with Splinter. Her bag sat underneath her feet, slightly unzipped.

Every so often Splinter would call out a bit of advice as the four brothers went at each other in a four-way-brawl. It was interesting, even a little amazing to see anyone being able to move like that. It looked like something out of a movie. And how could anyone jump that high?

So far Raph was looked to be winning after kicking Don across the room. Soon after Mikey joined Don and Raph turned on Leo. Their weapons met with a clang of steel against steel. It looked like their fighting had more behind it than just practicing. Aw, ninja-brotherly love…

At the last second Leo pulled a move out of nowhere and knocked Raph on his back.

Raph sat up with a scowl. "Lucky shot," he muttered.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

When she was sure the guys were sleeping Alex got off the couch. Moving quietly she went through her bag and pulled out the camera and a flashlight. Just to be sure she went to the guys' rooms, careful not to shine the light directly on them. Mikey was snoring with a comic book covering his face. Raph was hanging out of a hammock, also snoring. Don was hunched over a desk in his room, pencil still in his hand as he drooled on the table. She quickly turned the light off when she looked in Leo's room. The guy was sitting up in the middle of the floor. When she stood there for five minutes without movement from him she was sure he wasn't awake. How did people fall asleep like that?

After standing outside of Splinter's door for a little while without the sound of movement she went back to the couch. It didn't take her long to hook up the camera to the TVs and turned them on, quickly muting the volume. She rewound the tape, tried to be quiet as she shoved the couch out of the way, and pushed play. The video showed the training session and Alex started copying the moves. If Splinter had learned to fight by copying his master, then why couldn't she?

A few times she had to rewind and play a certain part a couple hundred times to get a move right, and had to creatively modify a lot of the moves with weapons to work with her bare fists. For the time being she decided to skip out on the complicated jumping and flipping moves; certain she'll land on her head if she tried them.

After two hours she stopped the video again and tried out the moves without watching to see if she was actually learning something instead of just getting a work out. She could remember most of the moves though they were still fresh in her mind. What if she did get in a fight and couldn't remember anything and had to resort back to just making a run for it or depending on someone to come and get her? No! No more running for it, that's how she had spent most of her life, not anymore. Now she was going to be a fighter with her fists and besides, she always did have her secret weapon, but she couldn't practice with it, not at the risk of one of the guys waking up.

After another hour she finally called it quits for the time being. She was tired and the tension in her shoulder blades and around the tail bone was really starting to become painful. While she pushed the couch back to its original position and put the video camera away she promised herself that after a quick rest she would go to the rooftops of the city and let 'them' out.

With that she just let herself collapse on the couch and was out before her head hit the pillow.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Author Note: these dots and dashes actually mean something other than separating parts of a chapter! Can you figure out what?

Copyright stuff goes to the creators of TMNT and all of that stuff. Except for Alex, Alex is **_MY_** orignal character.


	5. Midnight Flight

**Chapter Five**

**Midnight Flight**

"Where have you been?" Leo asked as Alex walked in from the sewers, carrying plastic bags.

"Places. Unlike you guys I can go into the streets during the day without attracting much attention," Alex simply explained. "Except adults keep giving me stern looks because of my hair, not my fault its blue…." she muttered as she took her backpack off and went through it as she walked through the room. "Hey Mikey I found most of the comics you asked for, took me four stores to find them all."

"Awesome dude!" Mikey exclaimed, taking the plastic bag with a huge grin.

"Raph got your action movies," she tossed him a bag of DVD's. She walked over to where Donny was sitting at his work table. "And half of the hardware store for Don."

"Thanks Alex…" Donny said distractedly as he worked on the computer.

"You guys told her to go?" Leo asked.

"She offered," Raph said.

"I owe you guys anyway," Alex said falling onto the couch and pulled a book out of her bag.

"Where'd you get the money for all of it?" Leo asked.

"I didn't steal anything if that's what you're implying," Alex said without looking up from her book. "I have… friends in certain places. They're there for deals and… loans, but not exactly the type to give up a bed when needed. Don't worry, or anything, I'm not getting into any debts that can't be paid."

Sometime later Splinter called for another training session and Alex pretended to put her book down to fish out a bag of chips from her bag as she set the video camera up and pushed record. Acting like she wasn't paying attention she went back to reading.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Check, check, check… check……check. Okay, everyone's asleep, Alex thought as she went back to the couch to move it. After hooking up the camera she rewound the tape all the way and did the session from yesterday before the newest one to refresh her memory. She was determined not to forget anything in the light of her flashlight and the glow from the TVs.

Two hours were spent going over the tape, and then another half hour going through the moves to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. But it didn't seem like enough. She knew the whole learning-how-to-fight-thing with the way she was doing it would take a lot longer than a few days to do but she wanted to get as much as she could with the time she had.

When she had the moves down well enough she just went to plain exercising after putting the camera away and moved the couch back. She did pushups, curl-ups, jumping jacks, and a few other exercises she could think of. When she was done with those she gave herself a break, quietly getting a drink from the kitchen before cautiously sneaking into Raph's room to secretly borrow some weights.

"Come on…" she muttered pushing herself to lift more. She had worked out somewhat before when she lived by herself but that was to just pass the time and to keep her legs in shape to help run from the robots. The memories of running through the streets to escape the pesky robots pushed her muscles farther.

When she was done she had to almost drag the weights back to Raph's room and she tried to put them back exactly the way she had found them without waking the big guy up and left.

Once again she went to the couch and was out before she touched the pillow.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

"Heh, heh, heh," Alex chuckled darkly to herself as she sat at the table. She shook up the can of soda - trying not to look too hurt from her sore limbs from the night before - and placed it on the other side of the table in front of her own just as Raph turned his back.

There was a clang. "Oops, dropped my spoon, Alex could you get it?" Don asked as he sat down.

Alex bent down in her chair and retrieved the spoon unaware that Don had switched the soda cans. When she came back up Raph was sitting down. She grabbed her soda and pretended to have trouble with it, waiting for Raph to open his. That'll teach 'im for blasting me… she thought.

A look of confusion crossed her face when Raph opened the can without trouble, but she quickly whipped it away and opened hers. A sticky spray hit her full blast in the face.

"Better luck next time, kid," Raph chuckled.

There was no way he could have caught her shaking it up, unless… "Donny!" Alex accused.

Don put his hands up in innocence. "I didn't do anything."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

On the third night of secret self-training Alex didn't have anything new recorded so she went over what she already had, when she was done with that she propped up the book she had been reading over the past couple days on the couch.

No one had noticed that the book was about martial arts, which was just fine by her. She had gotten two at the book store: one about the history which she got out of curiosity, the second about how to perform the moves. This was a big help, though she didn't have anything to show her how to do the moves exactly. The illustrations and step-by-step instructions could only take her so far.

It was another night of practice, memorize, figure out, and work out. But because of the three consecutive nights of doing this her entire body was starting to kill her and the tensions in her back were starting to become more than just annoying pains.

She plopped down on the couch panting. This wasn't going to work, and in a couple of days if she didn't change something it was going to become obvious. Maybe if she trained like this every other night? But she might not have enough time. There was no telling when she'd be caught by… by… She couldn't even think about Them. The memories gave her the steam to get back up and continue.

This continued for the next two weeks without skipping a night. Her body was sore and she had begun to sleep in more and more but she believed she was actually getting somewhere. By the end of the two weeks she could feel that her body was able to take on more and more stress from the strain of pushing herself.

She was able to find more time to practice when the guys went on patrols or self practice sessions up in the city earlier in the night. She would ask if she could go and each time they nicely said no or made some excuse, which was fine with her. At this time she didn't have to be as quiet so long as she remained cautious of Splinter.

A few times she had asked herself why she was being so cautious about this whole training thing. In truth she didn't really know, but she didn't really know how to ask if she could participate in their training either. She had spent so long doing things when no one was looking that she felt more comfortable doing things the way she had been. She had always hated awkward times like that and avoided them as much as possible.

After another week had passed Alex started to become careless on how quiet she was. On a few instances she would swear for tripping or accidentally kick the couch or weight or something before slapping a hand over her mouth and staying perfectly still. When nothing moved she would give a sigh of relief and continue.

On some other occasions, when her body was becoming stronger and training longer, she would loose track of time and only get an hour's worth of sleep before the guys wake up. Then the questions would rise on why she's so tired. Her excuse would usually be 'unable to sleep' or 'watching TV' (which was sort of true) or 'she lost track of time while reading' or something like that. A lot of the time the excuses were true to an extent.

Through the lack of sleep two things still never changed. She had never missed a night of training, and she was determined to get Raph and Mikey back for blasting her with soda after that first night of sleeping on the couch. Each time they had somehow avoided the shaken up can of soda, most of the time the plan just backfired and she would get hit with the same can she shook. But she was going to get both of them one way or another!

At the end of the third week she had gone through the entire book and had gone over everything she had recorded and still had energy to use. So she left the lair to see if she could go over the rooftops. She hadn't done that in a while and it seemed like fun to wander the city for a little while, there was really no harm to be done. If any gang were to grab her she was sure she would be able to take care of them, and she could surely out run the bug robots if any of them happened to appear.

But she forgot one thing before leaving: to put everything away.

Alex climbed up the ladder and got out of the sewers, putting her in an alley. She climbed up a fire escape and up onto a rooftop.

Looking around, up into the wide night sky she realized she had been neglecting one thing over the past three weeks and her back was making her pay for it. She thought about it. The guys weren't around, it was still dark out, no sound of buzzing anywhere, and she wasn't going to be out here very long, who would notice?

Getting herself ready she took a deep breath. Focusing her concentration on her shoulder blades and tailbone area she pushed out. It took a few painful seconds but two bulges finally started pushing against the back of her shirt from her shoulder blades and a thin wire seemed to snake out of the top of her jeans. She fell to her hands and knees as sweat started forming on her forehead; she pushed harder to hurry it up. The bulges pushed against the shirt, the wire getting longer, a rough ball growing at the point. With an extra hard push the shirt finally ripped, letting a pair of pale skin colored bat-like wings out, the ball at the end of the wire flattened out and hardened creating a tail with a double sided ax blade at the end. The wings flapped with relief, the tail swung from side to side in freedom.

They were one of her secrets best hidden from the world. The wings and tail were wet and slimy. She had learned over time that the nonhuman body parts could be sucked in and pushed out of her back with enough focus and some pain. Though when they were inside her body terrible tension would build up over long periods of time. She also had learned that if she were to leave the tail and wings outside of her body for too long they would dry, the slime coating them would harden, the wings and tail would turn from the color of her normal skin to black and she would no longer be able to pull them back into her body to hide. Instead they would forever be stuck on the outside, free to be seen. That very problem almost happened once and she would prefer that it never fully happened so she could hide her wings farther than just covering them up with her shirt.

"Okay, ten minutes, that's it," she said and jumped up into the air. The wings beat down and she was airborne, gliding over the rooftops, nothing but a soundless shadow against the night sky. The feeling made her smile, like she was in control of things for once. She dipped down under the roofs and pulled back up. Barrel rolls, front flips, spinning dives, flying up as high as she could over the harbor; past the clouds and then just let herself fall back, headfirst towards the dark waters. Twenty feet above the surface she angled herself, opened her wings and beat down, saving herself from taking a plunge. The ax blade of her tail hit and sliced through the surface as she moved forward, her front inches from the water. She pulled up and couldn't help from yelling out in joy. It always felt so good to be flying after a long break from it.

Looking out at the world under her she got an idea that she had never done before. Thinking she still had some time before her wings and tail dried fully she headed for the Statue of Liberty. The tall statue lady stood, in all its three-hundred-and-five-feet-from-ground-to-torch glory. Most people are never allowed to be at the very top of the statue, but then again Alex wasn't 'most people' and she was going to go beyond just to the top viewing area.

Angling herself upward just right by the time she reached the top of the statue she was over two-hundred and fifty feet in the air. Landing softly she stood at the top of the head and looked around. The sight was amazing, lights as far as she could see. She folded her wings behind her back to keep them away from the wind blowing around her and sat down facing the east, waiting.

She must have sat there for five minutes before it started: sunrise. Before her a ball of light slowly started to lift from the horizon. The sky was being painted with warm pinks, chasing the shadows away. It was breathtaking. In those few moments she forgot about everything, forgot about her nonhuman body parts, forgot about the bug robots, forgot about the turtles, about the sewers, the city around her, about the time… she was so caught up in the sight.

Before the sun could finish shoving the shadows away she stood up, stretched her black wings and froze. Black?

"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" she exclaimed turning in circles to get a better look at what was on her back. Her tail curled in front of her legs. The skin was black and leathery; the metal blade had never shined like that, the slime that usually covered it wasn't shiny. She ran her hands over the tail, it was dry.

Holding her head a line of swears sped out of her mouth as she tried to pull the wings and tail back in. She could feel that they weren't moving. The blade at the end of her tail wasn't liquefying like it normally would, this wasn't good.

As panicked thoughts ran through her mind at two hundred miles an hour the sound she had learned to hate and run from reached her ears. Buzzing. A lot of buzzing.

She looked around. There they were; the robots seemed to be rising out of the waters below like metal monsters in a swamp movie. They had been waiting. There were must have been at least fifty of them.

"You have got to be kidding me damn it!" she yelled as she leapt straight off of the three hundred foot statue.


	6. Suspicion

**Chapter Six**

**Suspicion**

Mikey yawned as he walked out of his room, first destination: couch for Saturday morning cartoons. Rubbing his eyes he went for the couch, a routine destination from his doorway to the couch cushion walked so many times he didn't even need to look where's he's going anymore. But as he walked the needed amount of steps and leaned back to sit down he was met with empty air and landed on the floor.

"Dude, where'd the couch go?" he asked tiredly and looked around. Had the couch always been that far away? No, this wasn't right, something's not natural here. Maybe aliens had visited, or mole people, or… "Donny!"

Don jerked out of his sleep at the call of his name. He sat up, dropped the pencil and wiped drool from his face; he seemed to be falling asleep more and more in that position. Yawning he got out of the chair and went to the doorway. "Mikey?" he called sleepily.

"Don, what are the odds of monsters from another dimension coming here?" Mikey asked.

"Do I really have to answer that?" Donny asked turning around to look at the clock in his room. "It's six in the morning, what's this about?"

"Mikey this had better be good," Raph said angrily, coming out of his room from hearing his brother's yelling voice.

"Guys I came in here to watch my Saturday cartoons like always, but the couch wasn't in the same spot as always and I fell over."

"So you fell on your butt, so what?" Raph asked, crossing his arms.

"Guys I think someone's been here."

"Yes Mikey, someone came in here and did nothing but move our couch so you would fall on your butt in the morning. Oh how evil." Raph turned around. "Bah, I'm goin' back to bed."

"Mikey you need to think about cutting back on the comics," Donny shook his head and turned around to go back to bed too when something caught his eye. "Hey, what's that?" He walked out into the room and picked up a video camera.

"That doesn't look like anything we'd carry," Raph said, looking over Donny's shoulder.

"Didn't you go back to bed?" Donny asked.

"Can't a turtle be curious?" Raph asked. "This is gettin' interestin'."

Don turned the camera on, no response. "Hm, battery must be dead."

"What do you think's on it?" Mikey asked.

"Can't be anything too important for the owner to just forget the camera here," Donny said when he noticed the cables trailing from the camera. "But why hook it up to the TV if the footage can be viewed on the camera itself?"

"Maybe they wanted a bigger screen," Mikey suggested.

"That-" Raph started.

"Would make sense," Donny cut across him. "If we knew what had been recorded."

"Maybe this would give us an idea," Leo said. They turned to find the fourth brother standing beside the couch holding up a book. He opened the book and flipped through the pages, a look of question crossing his face.

"What is it?" Donny asked.

"It's a book on martial arts," Leo said. "It wouldn't be any of ours."

"Hm…" Don unhooked the video camera from the TVs and went to his computers.

"What are you thinking, Don?" Raph asked as they followed him. "And before you answer that say it in English, brainiac."

Don started messing with wires, oddly hooking the camera to his computers. "If I can get the camera to work on the computer's battery instead of its own it wouldn't need to be charged and we could go ahead and watch what's on tape. Something tells me what we want to know is in this camera." After he was done messing with the wires he hit the power button to the camera and it turned on. He fast-rewound the tape while the screen was black. By the wait they were told that there was a lot on the camera, when he finally hit play the other three crowded behind Don's chair to watch. It was… "Our training sessions?" Don observed with confusion.

"Is it just me or does that raise more questions than it answers?" Leo asked.

"Hm…" Don sat back in his chair to think. "A martial arts book, numerous recordings of us on a camera hooked up to the TV, the couch has been moved to the side…"

"What does it all mean?!" Mikey exclaimed, walking backwards in an overreaction and tripped. "Oof! Okay, you guys tell me to put my skateboard away but Raph gets to leave his weights out? That's not fair!"

"Mikey what are you talking about?" Raph asked. "I didn't bring my weights out…" he looked, those where his dumbbells "here…"

"Looks to me like someone was teaching themselves how to fight," Don said. "For quite a while now. Records us, and then practices when we're probably asleep or gone. Uses the TV for a bigger screen-"

"Told ya," Mikey quickly put in.

"A book for second reference," Don continued. "Borrows Raph's weights for a work out, moves the couch for a better practice space in front of the TV… I was starting to wonder why she's started to look more tired over the past few days."

"But why not just ask? It's not that hard," Raph said.

"For some it might be," Leo said. "Remember she's only taking up our couch as a place to stay and hasn't done anything for us, she probably thinks it's not a fair trade."

"She also probably doesn't think like you, Leo," Raph said. "Hey, speaking of Alex, where is the kid?"

"Maybe she left," Mikey suggested.

"And left everything behind?" Don asked skeptically.

"Abduction?" Mikey shrugged.

"I don't think so," Don said and started going through programs on his computer. "I do have a theory about our friend. I can't be sure yet, though."

"What do you have?" Leo asked, watching the screens.

"Well when Alex first got here I started to get curious when it seemed that her arm was magnetic, like I said before, so I decided to dig a little deeper out of curiosity. Going through DNA samples I got when bandaging her up, and well… I found traces of DNA that weren't human."

"Like what?" Mikey asked. "Something strange, unnatural, not of this Earth? Aliens from another realm that have come with the plans to suck our brains out so we become zombie slaves but instead had to track Alex down because she was a runaway from their prisons and they had to leave before they made their presence known?"

Raph looked at the youngest. "I'm not even going to begin to say how stupid that was."

Donny pulled up his notes on the computer. "Something strange, yes, but not alien strange. More like, mutant strange."

"Alex… like us?" Leo asked. "I can't see it, Don."

"Not exactly like us," Don said. "But through her dominant human DNA there were traces of reptile."

"Lizard lady?" Mikey asked.

"Yes Mikey, Alex is a secret lizard lady," Raph said sarcastically and whacked him on the head.

"I can't place what kind of reptile," Don was saying. "But its there, along with another kind of mammal beside human, something like bat, I think. But these are just guesses on what I have."

"I say we get her to tell us what's going on. She's obviously hiddin' somethin'," Raph said.

"The best thing to do is nothing," Leo said. "We don't know about this for sure and actually it's not really our business."

"She's staying in our lair, I say it is our business," Raph argued.

Leo crossed his arms. "I'm sure she has her reasons for secrets and we should respect those reasons until she's ready to tell us. End of subject," he added before Raph could further the argument.

Raph grabbed his sia, ready to ignore what was just said when a phone rang. Donny picked up the Shell Cell that was on the desk and answered it. "Yeah April?" It was odd for April to be calling this early, but it could be important.

"You guys wouldn't happen to know anyone by the name of Alex, would you?"

"Alex?"

"Yeah, blue hair, red eyes…"

"Yeah we know her."

Raph grabbed the Shell Cell right out of Donny's hand. "Hey April could you put her on?"

"Raph don't," Leo said reaching for the phone but the most muscular of the four kept him away with one hand.

"Hello?" a voice asked on the other end of the phone.

"Hey Alex, where've you been?"

There was a short pause. "…out. I just needed some air, must have lost track of time. Casey found me walking around and introduced me to April and I just stayed over here."

"Well we were starting to wonder something, ya see we found this book on the couch and were wondering if it was yours. It's called uh… Beginner's Guide to Martial Arts?"

There was longer pause, then "Oh April's calling, I gotta go."

Before Raph could say anything back the call ended. He tossed the Shell Cell to Don. "She's hiding something."

"Raph don't say anything to her about secrets when she gets back," Leo ordered.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

A couple hours later the four turtles were doing their own thing. Mikey was skating around the lair, Don was busy at the computers, Leo was talking with Splinter, and Raph was beating up a punching bag. All the while Alex hadn't shown up and it was starting to bug him. What was that kid hiding?!

He took his sia and sliced a rip through the punching bag, sand spilled to the floor.

"Hey bro," Mikey said, skating in circles around Raph. "Go easy on the thing, we're running out of patches."

Raph opened his mouth to say something sharply back when there was the sound of wheels on cement. Mikey stopped but the sound didn't and it was getting louder; closer.

The two drew their weapons facing the tunnel into the sewers. They slowly lowered them as the sound of laughter came out of the tunnel. A figure could be seen swerving up and down the sides of the tunnel. The figure neared the mouth of the tunnel riding the side of it and with horrible timing Alex left the tunnel and was airborne. The girl rolled across the floor, skateboard following right behind. When she stopped in front of Raph and Mikey so did her board and whacked her in the back of the head.

Grumbling angrily about how stupid the skateboard was she stood up, rubbing where the board had hit. "Hey guys," she said to Raph and Mikey. "Uh, why are you looking at me like that?"

In the corner of his eye Raph could see Leo standing outside Splinter's door shaking his head. "No reason," Raph reluctantly said and walked away.

Alex stood there for a moment with a look of confusion mixed with discomfort but the look quickly disappeared. "Hey Mikey," she said and dug into a plastic bag she had been holding. "I found some movies at this video place; we can watch them together if you want."

The two had started a movie marathon on the couch. Mikey's three brothers had watched a few of them with the two, Leo commenting skeptically on a Kong-Fu movie, and Mikey giving comical shrieks at a horror movie. During the movies Raph had been watching Alex, who was leaning where the armrest and the back of the couch met, out of the corner of his eye.

It was noticeable the most in the horror movie through the glowing of the TV screens with the lights off during the parts that made most jump something would suddenly bulge against the back of her shirt while she sat at the edge of her seat and then would quickly press her back into the couch cushions with quick looks of discomfort before her the expression disappeared as she got back into the movie. Now he wanted even more to know what the girl was hiding. But how could he figure it out without Leo knowing?

* * *

Author's note: Hey I think I finally figured out how to do this note thing-y with the line above it!!! cough Anyway, sorry I haven't updated in a while but I had other things to do like homework, chores, going to school, eating, sleeping, writing my orignal stories (personally I would want to post my other stories on here but I can't becuase they're not fanfictions). Anyway I'll try to get back to this story more often and I promise this one will actually have an ending instead of those people that start a story on here and then never touch it again (that's not supposed to be offending in any way, shape, or form).

P.S please review. If you're reading this up to the 6th chapter you must have something to say about it. I'll take anything! (but be somewhat nice if there's critisism... please)


	7. Questions

**Chapter Seven**

**Questions**

Alex watched the credits of the last video roll down the screen. How could anyone actually read all those names?

The movie marathon had lasted longer than expected with Mikey insisting on watching an entire TV series he had on DVD. It was late and the orange bandana-ed turtle lay snoring on his side of the couch.

It was oddly quiet in the lair if she ignored the snoring. She grabbed the flashlight from her bag and turned the TV off.

Not sure what she was doing she just sat in the dark thinking about the morning she had stupidly sat on top of the Statue of Liberty, the swarm of bug robots afterwards. The things had almost caught her that time she was so terribly out numbered. Thankfully a forth of them were already malfunction from getting water in their robotics but that meant that the robots would just be redesigned so that didn't happen again. She had been able to take down at least a fourth with her bladed tail from spinning in circles in the air and letting her tail whip out around her. The remaining half she just resorted to making a dash for it. She had swooped down into an alley and jumped into a dumpster to hide. After sitting there for at least a half hour knee deep in Chinese takeout and a soggy pizza slice stuck to her butt she slowly climbed out of the dumpster and threw a banana peel off of her head. After walking aimlessly around trying to confirm it was safe to go to the sewers she ran into Casey. The guy said they were close to some April lady's place and decided to introduce her.

April seemed like a nice enough person but Alex still had a thing against mature adults that would never go away, especially the adults that had a scientific background of any kind.

Deciding she wanted air she stood up and headed for the sewers. After going through the tunnels and climbing up the ladder the street level air was needed more than she thought.

Within the shadows of a near by alley she put the flashlight in her pocket and let her tail and wings loose. They were stiff from being confined underneath her clothes for so many hours to keep from being seen. Hopefully the body parts would get used to it.

Stretching the wings out she leapt up, gave a stiff flap and jumped back off a dumpster before her wings could lift her up. Flying was just as enjoyable as always, the world underneath her, nothing grounded able to bother her in the least. Through the enjoyment of the wind under her wings, though, she kept a sharp look out for bulldog sized bugs coming after her.

After a while she passed over an alley she noticed some thugs coming out the backdoor of a store. Those bags looked awfully full to be just visiting someone in the middle of the night.

The girl swooped down; she didn't have anything better to do. Landing oh so graceful and silently on the top of a fence behind them she crouched down, feet balancing almost perfectly atop the wooden fence she crouched down to keep that balance.

She's always wanted to try this…

"Hey!" she called in a dark hiss. The thugs stopped and turned towards the fence. For them it looked like a dark figure highlighted by the streetlight at the end of the alley behind the fence. Demonic wings snapped out to the sides as a tail swung through the darkness.

One of the guys had a flashlight and shone it. The light first caught the glint coming from the steel bladed tail. When he tried to catch the rest of the thing in the light it jumped up, landing just a few feet away from them.

"I don't think that stuff belong to you…" it said in a dangerous hiss. The thing stood like a human as the sharp tail swung out and hit a dumpster, the blade slicing right through the metal as if it were paper.

One of the thugs pulled a gun. That made Alex falter but she quickly recovered and jumped forward. She knocked the wrist up as the gunshot sounded, the bullet shooting for the skies. She gave him a right hook to the jaw (like she had seen on TV) then jumped and gave a hard kick to the chest. The guy fell on his back.

Alex smiled when she landed. Fighting was so much easier now.

Then, unable to resist the threat, she swung her tail down under her legs and let one of the blades smack the ground right between the guy's legs.

That got the message across pretty clearly as the thugs dropped their bags and ran, the one on the ground scrambled up followed close behind.

Alex couldn't help a smile. That had gone better than planned.

Alex the neighborhood demon; fighter of thieves, protector of the weak… she was thinking as she picked up the sacks on the ground about to throw them back in the shop when she heard a very familiar rough voice.

"I don't think those belong to you either," the voice said as a mutant jumped down from the rooftops, followed by a human that jumped down from a fire escape wielding a baseball bat.

Alex stumbled back. You guys have the worst timing… she mentally told them. Didn't you just see me scare those guys off and get the loot back?!

Raph and Casey were walking forward.

Alex stepped back. She didn't want either of them to see her with her wings and tail out. She had to get lost before she was caught under light. Quickly she dropped the bags in her hands, turned and jumped high enough to grab the top of the fence and pull herself over. With her wings out she was able to jump higher if she did it just so, which she was happy for on this occasion.

"We got a runner," Casey said.

"I got it," Raph said surely. He ran and easily jumped the fence with his ninja-ability-to-jump-unnaturally-high. He ran down the alley but couldn't find which way the thief had gone.

Alex slowly stood up from crouching directly beside the fence after Raph had just jumped over her. Why hadn't anyone ever thought to do that before? Without realizing that Casey hadn't followed she jumped back over the fence and got a surprise.

Casey ran at her with bat in hand. Alex ran at him and did a flip over his head that was accomplished mostly with luck. Not wasting a second she went for the fire escape and quickly scrambled up the ladder. Casey quickly followed her behind.

"Raph!" he called out as he got to the first landing as Alex moved up the zigzagging steps as quick as she could. So much she wanted to just let her wings out and fly but she figured if she just continued to look as human as possible maybe the two wouldn't think to look at the skies when she made it to the rooftops and flew off.

She had to admit, Casey was fast, a little too fast at climbing the stairs. At one point he threw his baseball bat and it clonked her on the back of her head making her trip scraping her hands and bruising her knees on the metal steps. She quickly got back up and went up the steps two at a time, Casey half a flight behind her. When she reached the top of the fire escape she jumped up onto the roof and ran with Casey right behind her.

Halfway across the rooftop she noticed the figure at the edge of the building right in front of her and stopped. These guys didn't quit.

With Casey behind her and Raph in front of her Alex turned and headed left.

"'Ey wait!" Raph called.

Yeah right, Alex thought as she got close to the edge of the building and got ready to extend her wings and take off when she was caught by the back of the shirt. Reflex took over as she whipped around; throwing the arm that had grabbed her off, and gave a quick side kick but her foot was caught in the process. She jumped up, swinging her free leg around. Raph blocked the leg with his arm, letting go of the first foot in the process. How to land had escaped Alex and she fell on her back.

With a backwards somersault she pushed up on the ground and managed a back flip through the air over the gap to the next roof. The flip was graceful enough, the landing… not so much. Her feet hit the next rooftop and she lost her balance; falling on her butt.

"Note to self: work on landings…" she muttered getting to her feet and started running. She made it over three more rooftops and stopped, turning around; pretty sure she had lost them. With a smile she flapped her wings, turned, and ran face first into someone. She stumbled back, turned and ran into someone else.

These two _really _didn't quit.

She backed away from them and jumped to take flight when she was yanked down by the tail; hitting the building hard enough that she was sure she either broke or badly bruised her tailbone.

"Would you hold it a minute, Alex?" Raph said sharply.

Alex got to her feet, ignoring the stinging in her hands, sore knees, and now the pulsing pain from her backside. "Let go," she said in a hoarse hiss as she tried to yank her tail free of the three fingered grip. Then it dawned on her that Raph called her by her name. "Alex?" she tried to sound confused.

A flashlight beam suddenly turned on and shown on her. There goes the slimmest chance of making it out with an unknown identity. "Hey you were right," Casey said.

"I knew you were hidin' somethin'!" Raph said.

"Okay I admit it," Alex said. "Now let go of the tail." Raph did and she rubbed where the tail connected to her back from it being yanked on; that was going to hurt for a while. "How'd you figure it out?"

"Don found some interesting things in yer DNA that suggested mutations, and I started to realize it when you tried to attack like that after getting grabbed from behind."

"What were you trying to hide from a bunch of green turtle dudes?" Casey asked.

Alex rubbed her head. "I don't like people to know about my problems and- you hit me with a bat!" she yelled at Casey after touching the bruise on the back of her head.

"You wouldn't slow down!" Casey defended.

"That's still no right!"

"Hey!" Raph cut in. "I'm not done with you yet. You got a lot of explaining to do, kid."

Alex crossed her arms; she really didn't want to explain anything. After a moment of silence she figured she didn't have to explain anything with the menacing figures creeping closer from the darkest shadows of the rooftop. "Guys, we got company."

Raph and Casey looked and took fighting stances.

"Foot Ninja," Raph muttered.

"Doesn't sound very threatening to me," Alex said, balling up her fists, tail swinging from side to side by her feet.

More ninjas appeared making at least twenty of them, all wielding bladed weapons. One of them brought a hand up and threw a set of throwing stars. Raph and Casey jumped to the side as Alex ducked.

"Nevermind…" Alex said, straightening up.

"Come on, we can take these scuzbags," Casey said pulling out a second baseball bat.

I could use the practice of fighting something that's actually there and can hit back… Alex thought as she got ready for the first move. Nothing was happening. What was with ninja's and their stare downs before a fight?

Casey ran forward. "Goongala!" Apparently this guy didn't know the tradition of the stare down.

"Goongala?" Alex asked.

Raph shook his head. "Don't ask."

Alex gave a quick sound that would have been a laugh if she hadn't of had to dodge a sword so she wasn't beheaded.

"If you're gonna fight, ya gotta pay attention, kid," Raph said as he kicked a ninja across the roof.

"I kind of got that," Alex said as she jumped to avoid another attack and connected her foot with the guy's face. Where that ninja fell another one appeared with a sword and took a swing. Alex swung her tail around her legs and the two steels met with a clang. She jumped up and tried a spin kick which was blocked by an arm; she quickly reversed the spin and tried again. Instead of the kick being blocked another Foot appeared and grabbed her by the tail, swinging her around and let go.

"Hey!" she exclaimed as she fell over the edge of the roof and down into the alley. Angrily flapping her wings she lifted herself back up. "You're dead!" she growled going for the one that she was sure had grabbed her. No one flings her by the tail and gets away with it.

Flying up she tucked her wings in and fell at an angle delivering five harsh kicks to the chest, then with a flap of the wings made a connection between her shoe and the guy's jaw sending him seven feet away on his back.

Alex landed on the roof holding her foot; the kick had hurt a little. While she stood there the ninja she had knocked down jumped back up and came at her. Before the girl could react the ninja delivered a kick of his own to the chest knocking Alex down. He came forward, sword raised. Alex rolled to the side as the blade came down and hit the roof.

Raph came in and knocked the ninja that was about to try again away with a foot. "You got a long way to go kid," the mutant ninja said.

Alex stood up and flexed her wings from rolling on one of them. "I've kind of figured that out."

"Hey, we're not done yet!" Casey was yelling. Alex and Raph turned to look. The Foot Ninjas that were left were backing up. A few of them raised their arms and threw something down in unison. A thick smoke screen erupted from the ground completely covering the enemy. When the smoke cleared the ninja's were gone.

"Man," Casey whined, putting the baseball bats away. "I was just starting to have fun too."

"How do people do that?" Alex wondered aloud. Being able to disappear like that would be awesome.

"It's a ninja thing," Raph said, watching the last of the smoke disappear. It was weird for the Foot to just leave like that. "Anyway, Alex, you got some explaining to-" he turned to Alex and found empty space "do…"

Casey scratched his head. "Guess it's not just a ninja thing."

Raph scowled. "She's still hiding something. I'll get her to talk."

"Don't be too hard on her."

"Now you sound like Leo."

Casey put his hands up in defense of his tough guy reputation. "Just sayin' Raph, there're some things that people don't want others to know, ya know?"

The human-sized turtle had to nod at that. His whole family knew that.

"I gotta say though, the kid wouldn't make a bad ninja with that disappearing act she pulled."

Raph looked around, suddenly realizing what it felt like to be ditched by someone like that. It was kind of annoying when you're in the middle of saying something and the person just leaves.

He huffed. Even with what Casey said in mind Raph was determined to figure out Alex's story. Don had said that she had traces of both bat, and some reptile in her DNA. So what was she? Something stuck in between the three? Could she be a mutant? If so then how could something like that happen? Somehow he figured it wasn't toxic waste like him and his brothers, along with Splinter. It was something else, but what?

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex stood at the top of the Empire State Building, an arm loosely swung around the needle that reached through the clouds, wings tucked in to stay out of the wind that blew around her.

With a sigh she let herself slide down so that she was sitting at the base of the needle, one arm still barely hugging the tall pole. She rested her head against the needle and closed her eyes.

This was just great… she thought. Raph and Casey know. Raph will probably tell the others with Casey as someone to confirm it and… and… and what? They might not believe Casey; she's heard the other three turtles, and April, call Casey somewhat of a nutcase. But they were already suspicious of her hiding something anyway. Now it was confirmed. And since Raph knew about her appearance and if his brothers believed him then they would want to know the story. But she wasn't ready to tell her story. She would never be able to tell the story.

And yet… she wanted to tell someone so badly. People have said before "It's best to talk to someone about your problems" but what if there was no one to talk to? Even if there was you were unable to talk to someone? Sometimes she hated hiding inside herself. Being surrounded by millions of people but feeling so alone. But what could she do? Talking made everything worse. It always did.

This was why she didn't like getting close to people. She always found herself in some kind of position where she felt like she was being torn in two, like now, for instance.

She covered her face with one hand. "Alex what have you gotten yourself into?"

The girl sat there for possibly ten minutes before she stood up and looked down. That was a long way down; over a hundred stories. Was that thin line with the pinpricks of light supposed to be a street _way_ down there?

Carefully she started to climb down until she was standing pressed against the wall on the ledge where it was a straight shot down. Not quite as far down as before but it had to still be somewhere around eighty stories.

A lot of people say that when they completely mess up they want everything to just stop. Some people go far enough to become suicidal. Now she was wondering: Could the fall off a roof really help let you feel better?

There was only one way to find out.

Wings tucked in, holding her arms out to the side, she closed her eyes, leaned forward and let gravity do its thing.

* * *

Hello! I finally got this chapter done. I keep getting writers block, but I am determined to complete this story! And I promise you people that thet questions you might be coming up with will be answered... soon enough. Oh, and the confusion/wonder you might be experiencing is perfectly normal. Just take a deep breath... let it out... and yell at me to hurry up and update so I can get the explanations down.

On a wondering note: has anyone figured out what the dots and dashes used to seperate the scenes mean yet?


	8. Avoidance

**Chapter Eight**

**Avoidance**

"Raph what'd you do?"

A strange mixture of a snore and a cough came in reply.

"Raphael…" Leo crossed his arms.

Raph rolled over in his hammock ignoring his brother. It had to be what? Eleven forty-five in the _morning?_ Some turtles were trying to sleep here!

Holding himself back from the urge to flip the hammock over Leo just repeated the name with as much authority in his voice as he could use.

Raph stared at the wall in irritation. What did a turtle have to do to get a good sleep from one in the morning to one in the afternoon? Twelve hours, that's all he asked. "What?" he asked gruffly, partially rolling over to look over his shoulder.

"What'd you do?"

"What I do what?" Raph asked, actually going through the past couple days. Nothing came up as particularly bad, except for corning Mikey for doing something with his weights so they now somehow smell like soap and bananas. Truthfully he still didn't want to know what Mike had done to them. "I haven't done anything, I'm going back to sleep."

Leo tapped his foot in complete irritation at his lazy brother. "First of all, it's almost noon, you should get up anyway. Secondly we haven't seen Alex in three days after I specifically told you to leave her alone."

"And that's my fault, how?"

"Because you always go behind my back and do whatever you want, even when directly told not to do it."

Raph huffed and got up figuring Leo wasn't going to leave him alone any time soon. "I haven't seen the kid in a while too ya know. I know just as much as you do, and I haven't done anything to drive her off, if she's gone then fine. Weren't you the one say'n she has her reasons for what she does and we should stay out of it?" Raph pointed out.

Leo's mouth thinned to a line. He knew that Raph had done something; he always does when he's been told not to.

Raph was about to open his mouth to further defend himself when a teenage girl walked by the doorway.

"Hey Leo," Alex said, lifting her scared hand in a half wave.

Leo turned around and looked out the doorway. Raph stood behind him as they watched Alex pick up the extra skateboard and started skating with Mikey on the half pipe like she hadn't disappeared for three straight days.

"Told'ja I didn't do anything," Raph said.

"So where'd you go Al?" Mikey asked as the two passed on the half pipe.

"Go?" Alex asked, stopping at the top of the incline.

"You've been gone for a couple days."

"Oh, I was exploring," Alex said, putting the skateboard under her foot and raced down the steep wooden hill. "Once you think you've seen everything something new pops up."

"Like mutant turtles?"

"You could say- ah!" Alex exclaimed as the skateboard fell out from under her and she rolled down to the bottom of flat part of the half pipe. "That…" she finished dazedly.

Mikey stopped beside her. "You okay?"

Alex sat up rubbing her head. "Yeah, I could use more practice." She took Mikey's offered hand and got to her feet.

"How 'bout the tunnels?" Mikey suggested. "They go on for miles, there's plenty of space to practice shredding awesome full pipe."

"Full pipe?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, the tunnels are full pipes, aren't they?"

"Oh I get it. But I don't know…" she said slowly, crossing her arms. Truthfully she did want to get out of the lair, away from Raph hoping he hadn't told his brothers about her yet. But she didn't want to seem too eager. "I mean I don't want to fall into any sewer sludge. That stuff stinks worse than when you ate that chili pizza last week."

Mikey actually looked kind of disappointed. "Okay if you don't want to, though there's one problem."

A red flag waved in the girl's head but she kept her cool and acted innocent. "What?"

Mikey hit her shoulder; "You're it!" he exclaimed and sped off on the skateboard, heading for the tunnels.

"Hey!" Alex called after him pushing off the ground on her board. "Mike that's not fair! Get back here!" Laughter echoed down the tunnel way in reply as Alex went after him. The girl had always found it ironic how turtles were supposed to be one of the slowest creatures in the animal kingdom and how these four were fast enough to become nothing but a flicker of shadows on a wall in the night. That is if Mikey didn't sneeze, or trip, or pass eye-watering gas… during stealth mode.

The girl followed the turtle through the tunnels forever trying to speed up to catch her green friend though he always seemed to disappear down a tunnel. A few times Alex had to stop and look around after completely loosing track of him, only to have him jump out at her and continue down a different tunnel.

Racing down the tunnels with the only reason being a game of tag seemed kind of enjoyable for a while. That was, until she hit a bump in the road.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

"I don't believe this."

"It's true! I saw it an' so did Casey, ask 'im if ya have to." Raph crossed his arms.

Don nodded. "It would make sense," he agreed "but to imagine Alex with wings and a tail with an ax blade? I'm having a little trouble picturing it."

Leo shook his head. "No not that- okay yeah that. But what I meant was that you lied about not doing anything. You did pry when I told you not to."

"I was not prying, how many times do I have to tell ya that? Would I lie to you?" Leo and Don gave him the same look. "You know what, don't answer that. But this is the truth, and I wasn't prying I swear."

"Then how'd you just happen to catch her like that after she's been with us for almost a month and we've never noticed anything?" Don asked.

"I thought you believed me," Raph said sharply.

"I do," Don assured, but his eyes showed some doubt. "Or I kind of do… it's a very confusing matter."

"Donny has a point," Leo said. "Wings and a tail are kind of hard to miss."

Raph huffed. Why wouldn't they believe him? "She's probably hiding them; I've seen humans hide plenty of things under their clothes. I even saw a guy with half an artillery under a coat."

"Raph, that was movie," Don said.

Raph gave him a look saying 'and?'

"I still don't know Raph." Leo shook his head.

Raph looked at Don for support, but the turtle of science couldn't really give a solid belief until he saw a solid fact. Why couldn't they have seen what he saw? "Fine," Raph said lowly "don't believe me but you'll see sooner or later."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex gave a soft groan as she got to her hands and knees. Blood dripped to the floor, she put a hand under her nose and pulled it away, her nose was bleeding. Great… she thought pushing the back of her hand to her bleeding nostril in hopes of stopping the flow. She had fallen off the skateboard and got a bloody nose, how lame was that?

She got to her feet and noticed the knee of her pants had torn.

You've got to be kidding me, she thought. Blood nose _and _torn pants, what had she run into?

Looking around she found a large lump of metal sticking out of the floor of the sewer tunnel. The girl slowly stepped away from it, forgetting about the bloody nose. The lump started to move, the top was shaken off revealing the hated bug-like robot. The wings flapped with a buzzing noise as it was lifted into the air.

Alex glanced behind her to make sure Mikey couldn't see as she slowly uncurled her tail from where it had been held up against her back underneath her shirt, the tail wrapped around the double ax blade. Fully unwound the tail swung back and forth by her ankles waiting for the thing to come at her.

The robot charged. When it got within range she jumped up and spun, her tail lashing out. The blade cut cleanly through the metal exterior, slicing the thing in half. The two pieces of robot fell to the ground and sparked and sputtered for a second before dieing.

The girl smiled. "That all you got?" she muttered when more buzzing reached her ears. She looked around and found that there was more where that came from. At the end of the tunnel where she had come from five more of the robots started flying her way. She prepared to stand her ground when she saw a mini cannon unfold from underneath one of the five robots. It was the damn net launcher, and a good reason to run for it.

She turned and ran leaving the skateboard behind as her tail curled back up under her shirt so it couldn't get grabbed if the robots happened to catch up to her. She left her wings tucked in underneath her shirt too knowing that they would just make her a bigger target.

Alex ran as fast as she could through the tunnels, completely forgetting about her game of tag with Mikey. She didn't even know where he was.

Looking over her shoulder she jumped into a close tunnel as a net just barely missed her foot. Moving down the tunnel as fast as she could she wasn't paying too much attention to what was behind her to notice that she had run out of space to run and fell out of the tunnel at the end, landing with a flop in sewer sludge.

Getting to her knees she wiped herself off with a disgusted grimace. Moments later she quickly ducked down after hearing the popping sound of another net being launched. It flew over her head and she leapt up to keep running. Hurriedly getting onto the concrete so she wouldn't have to go through the slop she had just fallen into she ran. Going past a corner a hand grabbed her and yanked her to the side before the robots had left the last tunnel. When they did they continued forward, seeming to not even notice the corner where their target stood.

"Dude, what are with those things?" Mikey asked looking around the corner as the robots split up to continue the search, not noticing Alex tugging at the back of her shirt to make sure no 'extra body parts' were showing.

"Its kind of a long story that I don't have time to explain right now, come on," Alex said, grabbing his arm and started to pull him away from the corner.

"Okay you're right, you smell worse than chili pizza," Mikey said fanning the air in front of his face with his hand.

Alex just ignored the comment and started down the tunnel they were in with the stream of sewer water running beside them. They were about to turn into a dry tunnel when a pack of at least ten robots flew out of it. Alex stumbled back in dreaded surprise as Mikey drew his nunchucks.

Great… Alex thought as she quickly backed up. She couldn't fight them like she had the first one with Mikey standing there. She had to get out of there; the robots were only targeting her.

"Al, what do these things want?" Mikey asked as he twirled the nunchucks in blurred circles.

"Me," Alex whispered and ran.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

"Mike and Alex have been gone for a while now," Don said as he flipped through channels on the multiple TVs.

"Almost an hour, how long could a game of tag last?" Leo asked.

"Knowing Mikey?" Don pointed out.

Leo nodded, his youngest brother could take the simplest game and run it for quite a while if his attention span lasted that long. "I'll go look for them; it's the middle of the day they'll still be in the sewers. Even Mike knows to stay out of broad daylight."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex slid around the corner and continued running with Mikey right behind her after witnessing the array of weapons the twenty robots right behind them wielded. He already had a burn on his shoulder from getting a quick shock from one with a Tazer rod.

"Dude, I can't fight this many," Mikey said.

If you would turn your back I could probably take a few of them… Alex thought. "Where can we go? We can't lead these things back to the lair," she said when she noticed a ladder leading to the surface coming up a head of them. "I could loose them in the city though."

"I can't go up during the day," Mikey reminded her.

"I know, but I can. You go back to the lair, these things have nothing to do with you, they'll follow me."

"But-"

"Just go!" Alex commanded him and jumped on the ladder when she reached it. Mikey hesitated for a moment but reluctantly turned and started to go a separate way. He stopped though when he heard an explosion behind him. Turning around he saw a gaping hole where the ladder used to be and a pile of destroyed cement on the ground. The robots had stopped and one had lowered down and pulled Alex out of the pile with one of the clamps on its six legs. The girl jerked her arm and punched the robot away from her. Where that one left two more swooped down and grabbed both her arms.

Mikey twirled his nunchucks and rushed forward. He bashed a few of the robots against the walls before he got to Alex. But when he tried to get the two holding her away a robot with a sword extension swiped at him. He ducked under the blade, stumbled and tripped on a broken block of cement. On the ground the blade wielding bug-robot came forward and was about to swing down when another blade blocked the attack.

"Leo!" Mikey exclaimed happily.

"It's always has to be something, doesn't it?" the blue-bandana wearing turtle said as he ran his second katana through the robot and sliced the two holding Alex in half.

Now with his older brother there Mikey got up and attacked. The two took out the rest of the robots leaving a mess on the tunnel floor.

"Mind giving an explanation?" Leo asked as he looked at the chunks of broken concrete, and the mess of wires and circuitry.

"There's always one with a bomb," Alex said as she stood up, using the wall for support; she just got blown off a ladder, her balance wasn't all that great. The pant leg she had ripped earlier was in an even worse state with the bottom half barely hanging on by a string from getting blown up while the material was wet with blood.

"Why where these things after you, Al?" Mikey asked, nudging a dead robot with his foot. It sparked for a second and he jumped back.

"Uh…" Alex scrambled for a good thing to say without really saying much. What could she say without needing to give the whole thing up? She took a step forward while she thought and almost collapsed as a searing pain shot up from her leg and buckled under her. Leo grabbed her before she hit the ground. Leaning against the turtle she touched her foot to the ground, she put less than an ounce of weight on the leg only to jerk it back up as pain ripped her mind in two. "I think my leg's broken."

Leo wrapped the girl's arm around his shoulders. "Come on," he said as Mikey helped on the other side and the three awkwardly walked through the sewer with Alex hopping along between the two trying to keep the foot of the broken leg from hitting the floor. It did a few times and sent shockwaves of pain coursing through her leg, up the spine and stabbed at her mind.

When they finally got back to the lair without further trouble Don was able to set the leg in a makeshift splint and the girl sat on the couch with her foot propped up on a pillow on the armrest. From there the arguing began.

"I don't wanna go to the hospital," Alex protested.

"The doctors there will have the right equipment to correctly fix your leg," Don said.

"My leg'll do just fine," Alex said with crossed arms.

"It's the best thing to do," Leo said. "April's already coming over to take you there."

"I'm not going," Alex said stubbornly.

"You're going whether you want to or not," Raph said forcefully. It was just a leg, he reassured himself, the doctors wouldn't look anywhere above the hips.

Alex refused to even say anything to him, though she did get ready to grab on to something if they did happen to go into force about the subject. It'd take all of them to drag her there… unless they knocked her out.

At that point April O'Neil walked into the lair using the strange elevator fixed into the wall that Alex had tried a few times and figured she probably shouldn't take the big armored truck for a joy ride anytime soon. "Okay guys my car's waiting just up there."

"Doesn't matter," Alex mumbled.

"We only want what's going to help," Mikey said. "Besides, its not like you're a big talking turtle like us, you don't really have anything to hide, right?"

Don, Raph, and Leo exchanged looks, though Don and Leo were still having troubles believing what Raph had told them.

"I still don't want to go," Alex said, lying on her side to face the couch's back so she didn't have to look at them. In her head she was quickly trying to think of a truthful explanation for the question that was bound to come any moment now.

"What's going on?" April asked.

"The kid's being stubborn," Raph said.

"Go away," Alex told the couch cushion.

"See?"

"I got this," April said and took on a sweet, calm, motherly tone. "Alex, I know hospitals can be kind of scary, but they're just full of people that want to help."

Alex held up a hand with her index finger extended so she still wouldn't have to look at them. "One; I'm not five," she held up two fingers "and two; you'd have to drag me there out cold."

"There's a suggestion," Raph said and got cold looks. "What?"

"Alex, what's so bad about the hospital?" Leo asked.

In reply Alex grabbed the pillow her head had been laying on and pressed it against her ear.

"Come on Al," Mikey said grabbing the pillow and tried to pull it away though Alex kept a good grip on it. "What could be so bad? It's not like it's full of space aliens in the skins of doctors that had transformed their spaceship to look like a hospital and are ready to export all their patients to far away galaxies to sell as pets to giants in some galactic pet store."

"Yes, that's going to make anybody feel better," Raph muttered.

Alex just tried to pull the pillow back to her but instead Mikey was able to pull it away. She crossed her arms. "You really want to know?" she huffed, hoping this explanation was going to work.

"Yes," they all happened to say together.

"I don't wanna go because doctors ask questions," she said. "Sure they can take care of my leg but then they'll ask stuff about family, and family history, and all that crap, all of which I have no answers for. Then before I know it I'm probably in some kind of adoption agency, which is just as much crap because teens never get adopted, _and _doctors treat people under the age of sixteen like babies." Hey, she thought to herself, it's a good enough truth.

"That's the reason?" April asked. "Alex, I could act as your mom in front of the doctors," she offered.

Tempting… Alex thought, but no. "And what?" she said "Casey's my dad? They'd never believe that, we look nothing alike, and if you say I am adopted they'd want to see the adoptions papers. Or if I'm from a relative they'd still want to see papers. And even if you were able to forge all those, I'm still not going. So unless you knock me out cold, or drag me to the hospital kicking and screaming - which I will gladly do at the top of my lungs the whole way - I'm staying right here on this couch."

Leo covered his eyes with a hand and pulled it down over his face. This was going to be impossible.

Then Don smiled at them. He'd read something about reverse-psychiatry on the internet and was wondering if it would work in any other scenario then setting a pizza in front of Mikey and telling him, under no circumstance, to eat it, thus, in fact, making him want it more. Or so it seemed. Mikey always wanted pizza. "Okay," he said. "Alex isn't going to the hospital." The others gave him blank looks. "She's staying _right there_ on the couch."

Alex smiled in triumph; they were actually going to let her stay where she was? "Really?" she asked quietly.

Leo started to catch on and smiled too. "Yep, you're not aloud to leave the lair until you're legs better."

"In fact," Don said. "You can't leave the couch."

Alex's smile shrank a few sizes.

"I mean," Don continued. "It's broken you shouldn't be on it at all until it's healed, which means no moving from that very spot."

Alex rolled to lay on her other side facing the guys and propped herself up on an elbow. "I know what you're doing," she said accusingly, pointing at Don. "And it's not going to work. I'm going to stay on this couch and enjoy every minute of it."

"We're sure you will," Leo said.

April had caught on too and felt she should back the guys up on this. "Come on guys, pizza at my place. We can take the Battle Shell through the back streets to stay out of attention."

"Awesome!" Mikey said happily.

They're bluffing, Alex thought as they started to walk away, Splinter wouldn't allow it. They'll stop any second now. She listened to their fading footsteps. Any second now… She sat up as well as she could to see over the top of the couch. "Guys…" she said to their leaving backs. "Guys… Guys come on! You can't just leave me here like this!" she exclaimed when she noticed the heavy feeling start to grow in her lower gut-area. "Uh-oh," she muttered. "Guys come on, this ain't fair. I know you guys can hear me! Come on I gotta go!"

* * *

Hey faithful readers! Sorry it took so long to update but I got other things to do in life, ya know? Like my other stories that I'm trying to finish that aren't fanfictions, and sleeping, and dreaded homework, and school seems to purpously take five days of every week out of my pressious typing time! Its evil I tell you!

Anyway, I'm sorry if the story seems to be dragging somewhat, but I'll get somewhere sooner or later so just hang in there and enjoy what's written, I try not to make the chapters too boring when there's not really anything happening.

P.S. if you're wondering from the end of the last chapter: no, Alex is NOT suicidal, but falling off a roof, or jumping off, don't tell me you haven't wondered about it even a little one second in your life.


	9. Cornered

**Chapter Nine**

**Cornered**

"Come on… come on… almost there… little closer… little… closer…" Alex strained as she reached for the remote that was diabolically placed in the middle of the floor just barely out of reach from the couch. She refused to let the guys win by seeing her leave the couch, though they had cheated by sneaking over while she had passed out from the pain killers that April had brought her and moved _everything_ out of reach. So now she leaned out across the floor, arm stretched out as far as it would go, legs the only part of her still on the couch, her broken leg hurting from being moved from its spot on the armrest. From this position her fingertips just barely brushed the edge of the remote and she tried to coax it over to her, though it wasn't working out too well. At one point she accidentally pushed it a few centimeters away from her. "You stupid little…" she grumbled angrily at the inanimate object.

"Having troubles are we?"

The sudden voice made her jump and her legs almost slipped off the couch but she caught herself and got another wave of pain from her leg thanks to the sudden movement. Alex tried to look behind her and settled on lifting an arm up and oddly twisting around. Don was leaning on the back of the couch smiling like he knew everything.

"No!" Alex said roughly. "I'm doing just fine," she said and continued to reach for the remote.

"Would you like some help?" he offered.

"No," Alex refused, going back to reaching for the stupid remote. "I can… get it…" It was no longer a matter of wanting to watch TV but showing she could do things by herself even though she couldn't even walk. Finally she was able to flip the remote over to her putting it just within reach and she grabbed it. With bad aim she threw it behind her and it landed on the couch. That's when she realized it was easier to get in a position than to get out of one.

After thinking for a moment she got the idea that the couch cushion was still part of the couch and worked one of the cushions away from the couch with her good foot, trying to ignore her complaining leg. The cushion fell off the couch and flipped onto the floor. She put her good knee on the cushion and carefully lowered her bad leg onto the floor. Know standing on one knee she put her hands on the couch behind her and lifted herself up onto the actual couch. She crossed her arms in triumph. "There, told you I could get it," she told Don. "Staying on the couch isn't such a bad thing."

Donny walked away, not even going to bring up that technically that once a cushion leaves the couch it isn't part of the couch any more, and Alex could just barely catch him say "We'll see how long you last."

Ignoring him, Alex turned, being really careful where she put her splinted leg, and lifted her body onto the remaining couch cushion. Leaning down she picked the one on the floor up and put it back in its spot. Now with the remote at her side she put her foot back on the pillow on the armrest and leaned back, hard earned remote in hand.

Later that night Leo snuck over to the sleeping girl, lifted the remote from her limp hand and turned the TVs off. Before going to bed he looked at her and shook his head, she hadn't moved from the couch once since April had left yesterday, she even had an argument with Don about whether or not getting up to go to the bathroom counted as leaving the couch. The argument lasted for over an hour. She seemed to be as stubborn as Raph. Yeah, that's what they needed, a second Raph, great.

As he started off for his bedroom he stopped just realizing something. Back in the sewers after the robot attack, Alex had avoided the question they asked. Sure it was because of a broken leg, but she still hadn't answered and he'd forgotten about it. Could Raph be right? Was she really hiding something?

He shook his head. It didn't matter, if she was, she must have her reasons for hiding secrets. He should respect those reasons and not pry. But, there was that one comment that he remembered the kid saying when they had first met Alex.

"…_there are only two ways for me to see this. One: I'm dreaming, but since nothing's trying to _kill_ me here I'm probably awake…"_

One couldn't help from wondering what her secrets were.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex suddenly woke up. She had no idea why or how. The place around her was still really dark and she couldn't hear anything that would have disturbed her. She just… woke up.

It must have been two AM or something. She was still tired and was ready to go back to sleep when it felt like a searing hot needle was shoved through her leg all the way up her body until it reached the brain. She cringed in pain knowing she couldn't do anything to make it stop. Another needle did the same thing and joined the first one. A cold sweat started over her body as a third needle joined the others. She shot up at the fourth one and gripped the leg still propped up on the armrest as if that would help anything. The skin had started to itch something horrible, but the entire itch was underneath the parts of the splint, right where she couldn't reach with her fingers. Then the whole leg started to ache with discomfort that couldn't be helped.

She flung herself back down and pressed the pillow she had been laying on against her face trying to block the pain out though it was no use. The aching discomfort seemed to spread through her body with no way to stop it.

Without thinking she lifted the injured leg up and let it fall back down as if that would just cut the pain off. But all it did was send shattering agony up her spine.

"Ar-huh… that was stupid," she muttered in a pinched voice. "Damn leg, heal already."

She rolled on her side and tried to think distracting thoughts but her mind was coming up blank. She didn't have anything to think about. It wasn't her life to be full of thoughts away from pain and escape.

She could tell from there that the night wasn't going to be one of much sleep.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex was still awake when the lights were turned on and activity started back up. If she had fallen asleep at some point in time after she had woke up in the middle of the night she couldn't remember it and felt like she hadn't gotten a solitary minute of sleep.

Leo had left in some morning training session off on his own in the city while the sun hadn't fully risen yet. When he came back there was still about two hours of quiet and then Mikey woke up. The guy was off in his room trying to sing along with a song that couldn't be heard. His voice was so off key… When Alex craned her neck to glimpse in his room she caught him in the middle of an air guitar with headphones on.

Mikey's singing got old after a few minutes and Alex had her eye on that video game controller set on top of one of the TVs. If only she had telekinesis…

"Enjoying your entertainment?" Donny asked with a small laugh, walking by the couch to head for the kitchen.

"Oh yes, the sound of a slowly dieing tone deaf walrus just lets time float by," Alex said rubbing an eye from exhaustion.

"Hey, only we're allowed to stay stuff like that," Don said, though he was smiling. "Even if he is a tone deaf… walrus."

Alex tried to hide her chuckling when her stomach growled. "Eg… I'm hungry," she proclaimed.

"If you could walk maybe you could get something."

"You make it sound like I broke my leg on purpose," Alex said acting emotionally hurt. After a moment she sighed. "Why'd you have to go and make it feel like sitting on the couch was a punishment?"

"You're the one that wanted to stay there," Don pointed out.

"So? I'm hungry, if I could get up I would."

"Nothing's binding you to the couch."

"Except an un-worded challenge that you started and I'm going to win," Alex said jabbing a thumb in her direction, then yelled "Mikey!"

"You say something?" Mikey asked, leaning out his doorway, a pair of headphones hanging by a cord in his hand.

"Could you turn it down a little?" Alex asked.

"You're just jealous of my singing skills," Mikey said.

"There's a difference between jealous and deaf," Alex said back.

"Fine," Mikey said in an obviously fake stuck-up-but-noticeably-hiding-hurt-feelings voice.

Alex was sure she couldn't stand much more of the singing, she was too tired to block the noise out. "Hey I'll tell ya what, you keep the singing in your head and I'll… make you pancakes."

"If that will let you feel better," Mikey said like he didn't care, though it was a little too noticeable that he actually wanted the food as he put the headphones back on.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Don asked.

Alex smiled. "Simple, Don could you make us pancakes?" she asked innocently, unable to keep a straight face.

Don crossed his arms.

"What? I can't leave the couch, remember?" Alex said palms up in innocent fact.

Rolling his eyes Don turned to the kitchen.

Alex looked up to the ceiling as she lay on her back. A throbbing pain was pulsing up her leg and her wings and tail were getting mad at her for keeping them cramped underneath her shirt. She oddly shifted to lie on her side trying to get the pressure of her body off of the aching parts. She closed her eyes, wishing she could do anything for her leg that was taking forever to heal but it didn't seem like anything was going to help but just sitting there and enduring the throbbing pain as her body fixed itself.

She opened her eyes to the sound of clinking, like metal on ceramics. Either she dozed off or Don had invented some scientific way to speed up cooking or something because when she sat up the guy handed her a- bowl?

"Cereal?" she asked, realizing the liquid milk just in time to keep from spilling it on herself.

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep," Don said in an almost warning voice. "Especially to Mikey, he'll hold you to them. It amazes even me sometimes on how long he can remember a promise."

"I'll keep that in mind, though I promise I'll stay on this couch until my leg's healed," Alex said defiantly before she stuck the spoon in her mouth.

Half an hour later the empty bowl lay on the ground with the last of the milk drying at the bottom. The spoon was still held in a limp hand hanging off the edge of the couch as the owner breathed almost rhythmically, drool slowly dripping onto her shirt.

Don picked the bowl up; he knew those dissolving sleeping pills would kick in fast. He had to take some pity on the kid; he had heard her at four in the morning practically whimpering after he woke up from almost falling out of his desk chair and got up to go sleep in his bed.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

"Check," Alex said with a wide smile, crossing her arms in triumph the next day. It had been yet another sleepless pain filled night.

Don moved his rook with his own smile. "Check and mate."

The smile on Alex faded as she looked down at the chess board sitting before her on the couch, her bad leg hanging off the couch, foot gently resting on the floor. "Is not," she said as she tried to find a way to move her king to safety. There were none. "Wait- damn it!"

"Rematch?" Don asked.

"I wanna play April again," Alex grumbled arms now crossed in defeat. That was only the twenty-seventh time she had lost to the turtle.

"Oh come on, the twenty-eighth time's the charm," Donny encouraged as he set the board back up.

"How 'bout checkers instead?" Alex suggested. "It's less complicated." The girl leaned back against the armrest behind her as Don went to go get the other game. On the floor, only a foot from the largest TV screen sat Mikey so into his game he might as well be hypnotized. Alex watched the screen light up with bright flashes of color and streaks of speed moving across the screen that could give those with a weak heart a seizure while she waited.

April came up behind the couch, she leaned against the back. "Don't feel bad, I've yet to meet someone that could beat Don in a chess game, I can't even beat him."

"I was trained to take orders instead of giving them anyway…" Alex said mindlessly as she watched the TV in a type of trance, just like Mikey.

April looked at her in confused surprise. Raph and Leo, who had been dueling back behind them, stopped their fighting after hearing what the mere fourteen-year-old had said.

"What?" April asked.

Alex blinked, why had she said that? Idiot! "What?" she asked back.

"What did you just say?" April asked.

Alex took on the face of confusion. "I said 'what', what did you say?"

"Just a second ago, you said something, what was it?" April said.

"I wanted to play checkers?" Alex tried innocently, like she had no idea what the lady was talking about.

"No right after that- oh never mind," April gave up.

Raph looked at Leo. He didn't even need to say anything before his brother replied.

"I don't care Raph," Leo said quietly. "I don't wanna know unless she's willing to tell us."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

The next day Alex still couldn't believe she had let that sentence just slip out. How could she have been so careless with her words?! It wasn't like her at all. Being surrounded by living things that treated her as an equal was making her let her guard down, it wasn't good at all.

She lay on the couch thinking it over, figuring how to be more careful. It had been three days since she broke her leg, this was the fourth. For that length of time it had been sleepless nights and passing out in the day from drowsy pain killers. Maybe that was why her leg was taking so long to get better. Rest was supposable one of the best ways to heal, and it seemed she was getting the least amount possible.

She closed her eyes in exhaustion. She wasn't sure how much longer she could go on like this. At least she was finding some relief in letting her wings and tail out from underneath her clothes in the middle of the night, though she couldn't use them and leave the couch.

She had stayed true to her promise of not leaving the couch until her leg was better and she was sticking to it, putting it in her mind that going to the bathroom didn't count. But after this long she was starting to think that maybe her leg was better. It had stopped hurting about an hour ago. Injuries tended to do that to her. Take forever to go through healing, and then seem to just disappear so fast she didn't even notice.

When she opened her eyes she looked around. The place was really quiet. The guys must have left, she wasn't really sure what time it was, but they could be out in the sewers anyway so it didn't matter sometimes what time it was.

Suddenly she became aware of the dryness in the back of her throat. Had she been this thirsty a minute ago? She shrugged. It didn't matter, really. She was thirsty now, the guys were gone as far as she knew, and the kitchen was _way_ over there.

Carefully, like anyone could be looking, she put her good foot on the floor, pushed off of the couch and stood up. Lightly touching the foot of her bad leg to the floor she tried to take a step, stumbled in pain, and fell on her face; nope, leg's still healing. Using the couch for support she pulled herself back to her feet and bent down, hands touching floor. With a big breath she kicked her legs up and actually made a successful handstand. Now trying to keep her balance she walked on her hands towards the kitchen.

Going to the refrigerator she had a bit of a hard time getting the door open without falling over. But she finally got it after placing all her concentration on balancing on one hand while she yanked the door open, and then quickly shifted her weight to the hand on the door so she didn't tip over. Getting her balance back she inched forward, reached forward as well as she could and pulled out a cold can of soda.

This is going to be interesting… she thought as she put the soda on the floor as she closed the fridge door without hitting herself with it. Now was the problem of getting back to the couch. At first she tried holding the can under her chin, but it was cold and wouldn't stay. She couldn't wedge it into any pocket without falling over, it was too cold to hold between her legs, and she just knew that rolling it across the floor wasn't going to work with the possibility of it taking a sudden turn. So she stood the can up, grabbed it by pressing her palm against the top of the can and did an awkward jump-limp. It only got her a few inches, but she still went forward. She continued at this concentrating hard on what she was doing that she didn't notice the quiet footsteps coming towards her.

Suddenly there was pressure around her good ankle and the ground fell away from her hands. Was gravity broken?

"Hey where's the floor going?" she asked, swinging her arms like she could reach back down and grab it.

"So much for stay'n on the couch," the rough voice said.

Alex looked down at the ceiling and found an upside down Raphael holding her in the air by the ankle.

"Heh, hey Raph," she said with a guilty hint in her voice.

The muscular guy more-or-less carried her like that back to the couch and set her down in front of the piece of furniture. Still holding the soda Alex righted herself and sat down on the cushions.

"I thought you guys left," Alex said feebly as Raph stood there. He held the look of someone wanting something and wasn't going to leave her alone until he got it.

"Okay kid, what's the point of hiding it?" Raph asked.

"H-hiding what?" Alex asked innocently, though she had a feeling the whole innocent act wasn't going to work on this turtle. The girl didn't like this, being cornered on a couch because of a broken leg.

"You know exactly what," Raph said crossing his arms. "Me and Casey saw it that night and you can't deny it, and don't start wit' me by say'n you have no idea what I'm talking about. Actually I think you know more about what I'm talk'n about than I do."

Alex bit her lip, hugging her pillow to her chest. He was right. He might want the answers to one thing, but if she told him he'd probably get more than expected. She was at a loss for words, looking for just the right way to get around this one without lying or giving anything away.

Raph spoke when the silence lasted more than a few moments. "Look kid, you're living in the sewers with me and my three bros, a bunch of big green turtle-guys. What could you possibly be hiding that we couldn't handle? I saw yer…" he hesitated looking for the right words "wings an' so did Casey; you didn't see any reactions from us."

"Doesn't matter," Alex whispered under her breath, not even looking at Raph. "I'm not pulling you guys into this."

"Into what?"

"You don't need to know."

"If it has ta do with me and my family I need ta know, kid."

"And I respect that," she did too; she could only imagine what it was like to be in an actual family. "But it doesn't have to do with you. It has to do with no one but me; it's only my business, no one else's."

"But you're living wit' us, which makes it our business," Raph argued. He wasn't giving up, he was fed up with Alex always finding away to avoid giving straight answers.

"It doesn't work like that," Alex quietly told the pillow in her arms.

"What doesn't?"

"My business," Alex said simply, dropping her head into the pillow, wishing he'd go away.

Raph opened his mouth to try and pry harder when Leo walking into the lair. He walked away before he got lectured about respecting secrets and all that crap. But he wasn't done; he'd find out her story some way or another.

Alex breathed a sigh of relief into the pillow; that was close.

* * *

Sorry, this one's kind of slow, and there isn't much going on, though I promise that the next chapter is big for the plot, and questions will be answered finally!

And I can say that I've broken a leg myself, and both my arms at some points in my life, so I know what its like, and I hated those nights were I was stuck in bed forced to just live through it when the broken bone decided to make the night a living hell of pain. It sucked.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter until I can get everything down and update again.


	10. Demon Exposed Past Revealed

**Chapter Ten**

**Demon Exposed**

**Past Revealed**

"Come on, pleeeeeease?"

"You can't."

"Yes I can."

"There's no way you could be fine after only a week and a half," Don said.

"But I am," Alex argued. "I told you I heal fast." It was true, she had finally got a whole night's sleep that night and her leg wasn't hurting anymore. She knew she could walk on it; she had secretly done so when no one was looking. Now she wanted to go with the guys on a midnight run, or did they call it patrol? Didn't matter, they were going to run across the rooftops over the city under the cover of night and leave her behind… again. "Look," she said and pulled the splint off. She carefully stood up and put her weight on the healed leg. She stood on one foot and lightly hopped up and down. "See? I'm fine and besides woulnd't fresh air do me some good? I mean I've been stuck in this place for days."

Don turned to Leo. He was the undecided leader; it was his choice if she could go along or not.

Leo sighed. "Fine, come on."

Alex smiled. "Yes," she said in victory and followed them through the sewer and up to the surface, under a car. Looking around she slowly crawled out onto the sidewalk, careful that no one saw her. Standing up she made sure that no one was around before she said "All clear."

The guys moved onto the sidewalk and they ducked into the nearest alley and up onto the rooftops. The four ninjas waited as the plain human climbed up from the building's fire escape.

"What?" Alex said as she stood on the roof. Raph had his arms crossed impatiently. "Unlike you guys some people are bound to the laws of gravity."

"You can follow if you can keep up," Leo said fairly.

Alex shrugged. "Can't be too hard," I mean you're a bunch of _turtles_, she added in her head though thought it best not to voice it.

Mikey pointed behind her. "Robot!" he exclaimed.

Alex whipped around and found nothing but rooftops against the night sky. When she turned around to the sound of fading laughter she found the guys already on the next building. "Mikey that's not fair!" she yelled and ran after them.

The girl had to admit that there was a difference between her running and their running. The four ninja turtles ahead of her ran, jumped, slid, and flipped across the rooftops using anything they happened to run into to help move them forward, sometimes they over jumped the gap between buildings by so many feet, while Alex just plain ran after them, stuck climbing over everything that got in the way and just barely making it over the gap that the guys so easily leapt over. Like she had said earlier; they had to have broken some rules of gravity in order for them to move like that!

After having to jump up to get to the top of the next building that was taller than the one she was on she decided to finally give up as she dangled from the edge of the building, merely hanging on by her arms from the elbows down. Her leg was killing her and sitting on a couch for days on end could make a person feel a little… rusty.

"This is impossible…" she huffed, crawling onto the roof. She'll never be able to catch up with the guys on foot and if she took too long they'd never let her come with them to the roofs again, the lair was boring when they left. With this in mind a pair of wings snapped from the back of her shirt, a smile pulled at her mouth as her wings lifted her into the air.

She wasn't going to stay in the air long, only long enough to catch up…

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

The four brothers stopped on a roof topped by a small water tower. They looked behind them; there was no sign of the girl.

"We go too fast?" Mikey asked.

"You're the one that gave us the head start," Don pointed out.

"Shouldn't have mattered," Raph said. "If she was fast enough she would have caught up an' stayed with us."

Leo rolled his eyes at Raph, not yet aware of the dark shape lurking underneath the water tower behind them. "Come on, let's go find her," he said. They turned to go back to where they had come when there was a soft scuffling sound. Leo held a hand up to signal a stop. "Wait, I don't think we're alone up here," he said quietly.

They looked around weapons ready, not sure what they were looking for but they knew these roofs and would know if a shadow didn't fit.

Wait for it… wait for it… Sneakers shifted impatiently under the cover of dark shadows, waiting for just the right moment, and-

"Hi-ya!"

In a single smooth motion Leo whipped around, grabbed the leg that was extended in a kick, swung the attacker around, through it down on its back and had a katana at its throat.

"I surrender!" Alex exclaimed. "Lesson learned: never blind-side a ninja."

"Alex?" Leo said, putting his weapon away letting the girl up.

"Dude, where'd you come from?" Mikey asked. "I thought we left you behind."

"Behind?" Alex repeated looking somewhat insulted, shifting her shoulders: when she hit the roof she had landed on one of her wings wrong. "I got here like five minutes ago. I don't know what took you guys so long. Told ya I could keep up," she said to Leo.

Mikey got an idea. "Hey Al, race ya to the bridge."

Alex thought about her cheating by using her wings to keep up. "Um… I don't kno-"

"Readysetgo!" Mikey said and took off.

"Mike!" Alex yelled, running after him. "That's still not fair!"

The remaining three turtles looked at each other. Raph rolled his eyes, Don shook his head, Leo turned to follow, "Come on."

As they left the rooftop a ninja watched from the top of the water tower. He touched the earpiece on the side of his head. "They're headed for the bridge."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex ran as hard as she could, jumping as far as she could, Mikey might be a few buildings ahead of her but she hadn't been passed by the others yet, which was why she hadn't used her wings yet.

Why'd Mikey have to pick the bridge? It had to be, what, two miles away! And why couldn't building's all be the same height? All this jumping up and down was starting to annoy her recently healed leg.

Running across the umpteenth rooftop Alex was looking over her shoulder to see if the others were close, wondering if she could let her wings out without getting noticed when she hit a wall. Stumbling back she found the wall to have a shape of a man, and a huge man at that. He had a blonde ponytail and scar that looked like a claw mark on his right cheek, and a dragon tattoo running along his very muscular arm.

"H-hey, sorry about that," Alex said cautiously, slowly backing up. "I- I'm sure you have your reasons for being on this roof so don't mind me, I'll just be on my way." She turned around to find a line of ninjas blocking the path. Not good. Where were the guys?

Under her shirt her tail started to loosen. It was her only weapon. But before the kid did anything a hard grip grabbed her arm. Instinctively she turned around, a punch already moving forward when her fist was caught, the mammoth hand completely enveloping her fist.

"Let go!" she exclaimed as if that would help anything.

"Not a chance," the man's deep voice said. "We have reason to believe you are in contact with the turtles."

"I… don't know what you're talking about," Alex said slowly, trying to pull free of the steel grip as he dragged her into one of the darker shadows of the rooftop. If the guys were to pass by now they wouldn't even notice her.

The big guy's look told Alex one thing: he didn't believe her, and that was confirmed with only one word. "Liar."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Mikey stopped on one of the taller buildings right in front of the great bridge. He looked behind him and smiled in triumph. He won the race. Standing there waiting, the next ones to come up where his three bros. "Hey guys, pretty fast huh?" he said proudly.

"Where's Alex?" Don asked.

Mikey stood there a moment. "Didn't you guys pass her?" he asked slowly.

"No," Raph said.

"Where would she go?" Don wondered aloud.

"Who knows, the kid likes to do disappearing acts," Raph said, thinking of when she just vanished while he was still talking to her.

"Seems like an odd time to play tricks," Don said.

Raph shrugged nonchalantly.

Leo drew his katanas. "I don't think it's a trick."

They looked in the direction Leo was looking and found bad news. Hun, the human brick wall, was standing at the edge of their building with a line of ninjas on either side of him; waiting for a command. They weren't looking at the number of enemies though; they were looking at who Hun was holding hostage by the arm.

"Let go!" Alex yelled him trying to pull her arm out of the crushing grip.

"Is it just me or does something always happen when we go street side?" Don asked to no one in particular.

"Seems like it, bro," Mikey said as they drew their weapons.

Alex wished her glares could be accompanied by death lasers. That would help her situation by a whole lot. Sadly she didn't have any lasers of the sort, so she had to do with what she had. Should she risk showing off her wings and tail to get away from this guy?

"Leave the kid out of this, Hun!" Leo called from across the roof.

Without a word from its leader one of the closest Foot Ninjas held out a sword and Hun took it. Easily he yanked Alex closer and held the sword at her throat.

Not this again… Alex groaned in her head.

"Drop your weapons freaks, or the girl looses a head," Hun said in his deep rough voice.

Don't do it… Alex willed her friends in her mind. She felt like yelling at them after watching the four look at each other and throw their weapons to the ground. It looked like she was getting out of this on her own.

She slowly reached up with her free arm, getting her legs ready. As quickly as she could she grabbed the sword - slicing her hand open (again) - pushed the blade away from her, jumped up and slammed her feet down on one of Hun's brick sized feet, and rammed back against him hoping to push him off balance. It worked and Hun started to fall back, over the edge of the building. Alex ducked down and leapt forward out of reach as the large man toppled over. But she only had so much luck and as soon as she got back to her feet from the leap she was forced to stay still by a few of the ninjas around her grabbing her arms.

With Hun gone, though, the four turtles grabbed the weapons and leapt forward in unison, and the fighting began.

Don knocked the Foot off of Alex, and she got away from the edge as Hun came back up on the roof. Stupid fire escape!

The group of friends was out numbered five-to-thirty. Leo was taking on five ninja wielding swords, Don and Mikey were knocking Foot after Foot away though they seemed to keep appearing out of nowhere, Raph had somehow gotten in an unfair battle with Hun though the guy mostly stood behind backup and watched the fight of ninja-VS-ninjas, while Alex was off on her own trying to fight though she mostly just dodged. Her leg was sore and her hand was making a bloody mess. Someone could tell which ones the girl had tried to fight with the bloody smears on their clothes.

Okay still recovering from a broken leg isn't the best time for a fight… Alex thought as she jumped back to avoid a sword and ducked when a throwing star almost hit her head. I should have stayed on the couch…

She jumped up and managed to kick two guys at once sending them a few feet away. Jumping back she managed to dodge a staff that was going to crack her skull but didn't react fast enough when Raph came flying through the air and knocked her back with him. The two went rolling across the roof until they finally stopped when Don was added to the pile with Alex stuck on bottom.

"Guys… get off…" she gasped as their combined weight crushed the wings under her shirt, along with an arm and ankle getting twisted the wrong way. She pulled at the ground trying to get out from under the two bodies.

Alex had pulled her way out from under Don and Raph and just barely got to her feet when Leo and Mikey got thrown and knocked the girl back as they all landed in a groaning dog-pile; Alex stuck under Mikey who was on top of the pile.

"What happened?" Mikey moaned, putting a hand to his head.

"We're getting our shells handed to us, that's what," Raph grumbled angrily.

"Speak for yourself," Alex said, trying to push Mikey off of her.

Hun came forward and grabbed Mikey off the top of the pile, allowing Alex to roll off the pile and get to her feet unnoticed. The big guy bore an almost disgusted scowl as he walked to the edge of the building and dangled the struggling Mikey out over the ten story drop.

"Mikey!" his brothers yelled as they got up and moved to help but were cut off by a line of Foot Ninjas.

Alex slowly backed up, stepping to the side. She had a feeling of what was going to happen next and getting ready for it. If she stood behind Raph she could use him to jump over the ninjas putting her directly behind Hun and from there…

It seemed to happen in slow motion as Hun said "Worthless skum," and let go.

Alex raced forward, jumped, pushed off of Raph's back, used a Foot Ninja's head as a stepping stone, hit the roof and slid between Hun's legs just in time to catch Mikey by the wrist, though it left her dangling off the roof by one hand unable to get back up with Mikey in the other hand. She swore in pain as the cement of the roof scrapped and pulled at the cut on her palm from grabbing the sword earlier. It would probably be best to stop doing that.

Her grip wasn't the best and Mikey's hand slipped out of hers. He saved himself though by grabbing onto her ankle. Alex grabbed the roof with her now free hand and tried to pull herself up with the added weight on the end of her leg.

Mikey made the mistake of looking down, dangling over about a hundred feet of empty air with nothing to break the fall except for the unforgiving sidewalk. All of a sudden that seemed like a lot longer drop and he tightened his grip on Alex's ankle with what could have been described as an unmanly shriek.

When Alex struggled to pull herself up far enough that she was able to look over the edge of the roof, her free foot scrapping against the building wall to try and help her climb. In front of her was a humongous shoe, and a low chuckling from above. She looked up and saw the bottom of Hun's shoe. "Crap…" was all she could say before the foot connected with her face. Next thing she knew she was falling with a bloody nose.

Knowing there was no way to avoid it now she reached down. "Trust me," she told Mikey and he grabbed her hand. With a snap her wings burst from her back and gave a sharp painful tug as they tried to catch the weight they weren't accustomed to. Flapping as hard as she could Alex lifted them back up.

"You have wings?!" Mikey exclaimed with surprised amazement as he looked up.

Alex couldn't reply with a pulsing nose that was amazingly not broken, a hurtful hand that was trailing blood down Mikey's arm, a still sore leg from all the rooftop jumping, and her wings were still complaining about being stiff for so long and then suddenly snapped out to try and lift the weight of _two_ bodies. Aside from the pain there was another reason she didn't reply with a mouth pressed into the thinnest line. Someone was going to die…

Setting Mikey back on the roof she didn't even land. Bee lining straight for Hun who was standing with his back to her, scowling as the three turtles attacked the Foot Ninja with pure hatred. By the time he noticed the flapping sound and turned to look Alex's foot was already extended and returned the favor of kicking her in the face. As she continued forward after snapping Hun's head to the side she landed in a slide and turned back to face the huge guy, tail uncurling.

"Aren't you the little freak?" Hun grumbled angrily, pulling a sword practically out of nowhere.

An actual growl came from Alex's throat as she stepped towards him, tail swinging side to side behind her feet. Her voice came in a dark hiss "I prefer demon."

What happened from there Alex would never really be able to say. Everything was a blur and she couldn't remember much except getting slammed into a wall hard enough that it cracked, though she must of just got back up because when she did understand what was happening around her again she was standing in a puddle of blood, the steel of her tail coated in a shining red liquid. Bodies covered the roof; some unconscious, some never getting up again, some beheaded. When she looked down at herself she found her hands and clothes were stained crimson.

A feeling of satisfaction redid the lock on the darkest part of her mind, though through the satisfaction there was a small hint of dread. This wasn't going to be the last time she looses control, the body of the human wall wasn't amongst the dead, though a small flicker of happiness shone when she noticed neither was the body of a turtle. The happiness was quickly gone, however, with the realization of her exposure and numbness settled in. Emotions; what a rollercoaster ride.

The four brothers hung back surveying the scene before them. It was near impossible to believe what they had just witnessed. A few of the deaths were their doing (especially Raph) but the majority had been that kid; the one standing in the middle of the massacre. Was that the one they knew as Alex; the one that Mikey had brought to the lair as a passed out bloody mess in his arms?

Raph could say he could relate to knowing what it was like to loose it. He could see it in the way the girl had moved, no holding back, no mercy. It was weird to be on the outside, watching someone else being overwhelmed with a murderous feeling. It was almost a shame that he was too shocked at what he had witnessed to turn to Leo and Don and say 'I told you so.'

Alex turned, bloody hands shoved into stained pockets (unable to feel the sting of her sliced palm), and walked to the four turtles with tail swinging down by her feet like a pendulum, watching the splattered ground as she went. Stopping in front of them she lifted her vacant gaze. After a moment she said unemotionally "I have no excuse."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex sat on the couch rubbing a towel along her tail, making sure to get the metal to keep rust away as her wet hair clung to her cheeks and trailed down her back making her shirt wet after her shower. She was stuck wearing the pants that were missing half a leg from getting blown up when she first broke her leg along with a shirt that hadn't been ripped for her wings yet, which was fixed by slicing a pair of holes in the back with her tail. Her other clothes waiting in a bloody pile to go to April's to be washed.

She was still mostly numb from the murder but had enough feelings to feel dread about the questions that were going to come. Now that all four of the guys had seen her with her… extras there was no avoiding it. But she was going to hold off as long as she could… which was a whole twenty minutes before Mikey went to the couch and sat on the opposite end of the girl, legs crossed under him.

"Dude so… you're a mutant too?"

Alex leaned forward and gently flapped her wings to get the access water droplets off when she was done with her tail. She really didn't want to get into this whole explanation.

As she hesitated to answer the other three turtles and their sensei came to the couch for the much needed explanation.

"There are a few names for it, Mike," Alex finally said, staring at the reflection in her tail's ax blades. "They called it genetically altered DNA clone soldiers, I call it a demonic mutation, but yeah I'm probably a mutant or if you want to get a dramatic effect I might as well be a modern day Frankenstein; a human body with different parts patched on."

"So what the shell happened to you back there on the roof?" Raph asked, that being one of the first things he wanted answered among some others. "And we want straight answers, no beating around the bush."

Alex smirked. "Easier said then done actually." The expression faded quickly. "I don't know actually, can't really remember much. Sometimes you just get overwhelmed by hate and things like that, ya know?"

Eyes turned to Raph. He crossed his arms.

"I didn't mean for it to get that bad, it was like everything just blurred together and I wasn't in control anymore. Besides I didn't get who I wanted to anyway…" she added quietly. "It's not my fault anyway, it's in my programming."

"What do you mean by that?" Don asked confusedly.

Alex sighed and tucked her wings behind her, tail wrapping around her middle. "We were to be thought of computers, robots; simple objects… not living, feeling things. I guess it just rubbed off, unthankfully."

"Who're 'we'?" Leo asked.

Alex rubbed her head. "Um… okay I'll just start from the beginning. There's this organizations of scientists that run this secret lab, doing experiments and stuff like that."

"Like Area 51?" Mikey asked.

"Yeah, except they don't capture anything, and aren't run by the government, or any other kind of agency for that matter. In fact what these guys do is illegal no matter how anyone looks at it. It's just… wrong. Me and the others always knew it, or… the ones that could think. There were hundreds like me, but unique in ways. None of us looked the same and at first glance it would look like we were… normal kids or the successful ones anyway."

"Successful?" Don asked.

"Stop interrupting," Leo said.

"No its fine," Alex said. "I suck at explaining things. You see, I wasn't 'born' I was created… out of a test tube so to speak. I didn't grow to look like this and I'll never change. I may look fourteen, but by date of creation I'm actually twenty-five. It's the same thing for all the others. They're given an appearance chosen by the scientists before they're created and they're stuck looking like that until they die. No growing, no changing. We're created instead of being picked off the streets so there will be literally no records of our existence. No parents, no blood or distant relatives, no one to know we ever existed. Though there is one thing to make us as 'real' as possible. Technically I'm a clone because I was created based off of a DNA sample from some random person. But the DNA is just used as a frame. From there our bodies are altered so we will never look like another person. I've been told that at first that was all it was, altering and creating people. Apparently there were a lot of mistakes before they finally got it right. Those were just labeled as mistakes, the ones that didn't make it because they weren't fully developed or something went wrong. The ones that worked fine and everything were the successful ones.

"Then as the years went by and there would be only one mistake out of fifty tries the scientists decided to take chances, see what they could really do. And Frankensteins - or mutants - started showing up. They started to mix DNA with animals to create a human with wings for instance, or someone with gills. I knew a guy with the mouth of a shark.

"All throughout this we were being trained, and taught so we would easily blend in with a crowd. A few times the most likely to succeed in the population were picked out of a group and were taught so much they would become geniuses, literally knowing everything there was to know about the world. At some points, I remember, it would be too much and they'd have a meltdown, and then marked as a mistake and they were never heard from again."

"What was all this for?" Leo asked.

"No interrupting," Raph reminded.

Leo glared at him.

"Be respectful and do not fight," Splinter said.

"Was?" Alex repeated. "It still is, and all of it is for a war that's supposedly destined to come. Don't know when, don't know where, don't now why but I do know that the successful ones are ment to be the soldiers in it, which is why they had started creating beings like me. They would piece together certain parts of animals to a human to create something that could be used specifically for a single job and then would train the successful ones to do that job. Fish parts and gills, focused teaching on electronics to become an agent for underwater sabotage or something. Wings and some kind of weapon along with specific fight training for aerial attacks on an enemy. Then we're cleverly designed to fit in two worlds: war and common. We can supposedly leave a battle field and just blend in a city without being looked at twice, then just as easily go back to battle.

"Though there was a problem they were having trouble with. Most of the successful ones acted like mindless robots. They had no personality, no opinions, if given an order they would do it no questions asked; the perfect soldier, though they weren't exactly good if they were to be a spy or something undercover and needed to blend in with the normal population. They'd stand out like that. Over time personality could be taught into them but that took too much time, they needed soldiers with personality as soon as they came into existence. I've been told it took them forever to finally create someone with 'natural personality': me.

"I was the 'perfect success'. Natural personality, I had opinions, I learned fast enough that I could learn on the job. I was resourceful enough to figure out on my own how to hide my wings and tail in public. One of the best parts was that they had somehow added the effect that I can heal unnaturally fast. Broken leg took less than two weeks without proper care. I could be torn to shreds and mend in just a few days. Scrapes and bruises are usually gone in a few hours. There was this other thing that added on to everything. I can have a dangerous anger. Like what you guys saw back on the roof. I've tried to control it but it gets away from me. They tried to harness my anger but couldn't control it, said I was a 'work-in-progress' and wouldn't give up on me. But I wasn't exactly perfect, they found out. Their first natural personality was a rebel. Instead of a "sir, yes sir" on over half the commands they received a no. I knew what I wanted to do and what I didn't and I didn't care what they did about it. If I didn't feel like moving I wasn't going to. Of course they'd react to the refusals by means of completely messed up torture or something. One time I got locked up in this cramped metal box for a month with no food and barely any water, only enough to keep me breathing. They didn't seem to understand that the reason I was refusing was because they were trying to make me do these stupid and painful tests, trying to see if they could figure out exactly what made me come out of the test tube so well. A person can only take so much poking, prodding, and having the occasional inability to remember the events of the past couple days without loosing it.

"After a time the scientists needed a better way of discipline, especially when I started to get mad at them and I'd wind up destroying some kind of equipment through anger. That's when those bug-robot-things first appeared. Didn't take me long to figure out I had to get out of there so I escaped. It wasn't that hard to live on my own, I was meant for survival and sneak attacks anyway. Then the hunts started. Those robots seemed to appear out of nowhere. The robots turned from means of discipline to collectors, catchers, blood hounds… I knew I was meant to be taken back alive since they wouldn't kill me but that didn't stop them from being rough. For a while I was able to dodge them and I created a type of fort with defenses and everything. I was fine and life was okay for a while, until I was swarmed. There were just too many of those robotic pests and it didn't help that I was sleeping when they attacked, and they attacked _hard. _I wasn't exactly lying when I told you guys my place was overrun by punks with a lot of gear; those robots could be attacking with anything. I swear one of them had a machine gun… It was all I could do to get out of there, and that's when I met Raph and Mikey."

She scratched her head. "There was something else… Oh yeah, my magnetic arm. Like the ax on the end of my tail is made of steel, half the bones in my body are made of steel. Not coated by steel, literally _made of steel._"

"Then how'd you break your leg?" Mikey asked wonderingly.

"Only half of my bones are metal, the other half… not so much. Don't know what was trying to be accomplished there really. Sadly I don't have metallic muscles either. I have the knuckles that could probably break cement but that doesn't stop the nerves from working, the skin from tearing, and the blood from flowing."

"Why were you hiding this?" Raph asked.

"Because I don't like others involved in my problems," Alex said like that was a good reason and would close the matter, though she could tell from their looks that it wasn't enough. "Remember last year about that entire family that died and the police couldn't find a hint of evidence anywhere?" she asked.

"Yeah," Don said.

"I knew 'em. I saved one of their kids from a kidnapper and the kid dragged me up to the door when I took him back home. It was almost the same thing that happened here. They found out I had no family and insisted that I stay with them. I didn't then, but I wound up visiting often. Then one time they got me to explain everything. I just really needed someone to talk to 'bout my problems, I couldn't keep it all in and it all just kind of spilled out. The visit that night lasted longer than normal with the explaining and everything and that's when the robots showed up. They worked so fast that before I knew it everyone was already dead. There was nothing I could do, I couldn't fight. All I could do was run away and never look back."

"Yeah, ya could use some help on fighting," Raph said.

"I know," Alex agreed. "I didn't have the best timing when I left the scientists before I was taught how to actually fight. It was survival first, flight training, and then combat. I think they didn't want to teach me how to fight because they knew what I was going to do when I could properly fight back. The cowards…" She looked down at her hands, a sudden memory popping up from those years in that scientific hellhole. "But… sometimes I see myself as the coward."

"How do you come to that idea?" Don asked.

"Because not only do I hide whenever I hear the buzzing of those robots, but I left them behind, like I said, I was the first one to have natural personality but there was this other successful one. A boy; Psych, he looked maybe… ten? He was one of the very first successful ones and he was being kept as a reference when things went wrong in the creations. He seemed to know everything, and he probably did, but he wasn't a loud mouth about it, and he was secretly telepathic, I'll never understand how he hid it from the scientists but he did and… we became allies, even friends. There was also another boy he would have looked somewhere around my 'age', he was the one with the mouth of a shark along with webbed hands and feet, since we didn't have actual names and he wound up with as Razor Mouth with the ability to bite straight through anything, didn't how dense. I was going to bring them with me when I escaped. But Psych wouldn't come, Razor Mouth did but we got separated right before we hit freedom. I knew I had a bad decision to make. I knew that if I tried to help him out neither of us would make it and we'd probably never get another chance to escape again, but if I leaved without him… god I'm such a coward." She ran a hand through her still damp hair. "I'm going to that place someday. That's why I haven't left the city."

"Where is this place?" Leo asked.

Alex gave a small smile. "Kind of ironic really, a place that might as well be a prison that creates its own prisoners is under the Statue of Liberty. I know that when I'm able to and I have some kind of plan I'm finding a way back in there I don't care what it takes, but I know that I'm not the only one that deserves freedom."

* * *

I almost killed Mikey!

Anyway, I hope this chapter will explain a few things. I tried my best to get the message across I tried to make it clear that Alex isn't exactly human... or mutant, she basically a science experiment with a free will. Is she nuts? Does she really to want to go back to a place that is trying to hard to bring her back to? The place that's willing to kill anybody in contact with her to get to her? I guess you'll have the find out.

Okay, I'm off to write the next chapter.


	11. Can't Stop

**Chapter Eleven**

**Can't Stop**

The girl leaned against the brick wall at the corner of the block. The remaining ten minute she was forced to wait was going by impossibly slow. This was what she got for walking around until the dinner rush.

Ignoring the adults giving her disapproving looks about her blue hair she looked up at the darkening sky. It was going to rain. Thunder rolled, though it was barely audible over the sound of honking horns in the New York traffic. A single rain drop hit her between the eyes.

With a sigh she dropped her braid down the back of her newly bought sweatshirt and pulled the hood over her head and stuffed her hands back into the two-sided pocket before anyone noticed her bandaged hand. The wraps had turned red again; they needed to be changed when she got back. The cut was deeper than she thought.

Staring at the ground she felt the rain slowly started to fall, turning the cement a darker color spot by spot, she tried to nonchalantly rub her back against the building's rough wall to scratch her wings that were protesting about being concealed after having a whole night out in the open with no worries.

The time passed so slowly that road kill could travel faster.

Then he passed. Alex was just watching people's shoes coming and going from her vision when a person seemed to stand out, followed by the sound of clanking metal. Under the pants that were too soaked to be just from the rain were no shoes, though the pant legs covered the foot when she watched him continue on his way she saw his heel as he stepped. It was bare and silvery-grey. With astonishment she looked up at him. Underneath a dark green bandana that covered his head she could see the ends of hair the color of river mud. No way. Could it be?

Trying to be discreet about it, not wanting to cause too much attention if she was wrong, she quickly followed the guy. He was roughly her height, maybe a little taller. She could feel the happy apologies start to form in her throat as she watched him turn the block corner. But when she turned the corner after him he was gone. She tried to look passed the adults on their dinner dates and all the other people quickly trying to duck into buildings to escape the rain, but saw no sign of him. Maybe she just imagined it.

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

The adults watched on the screen as the hooded girl turned back to the restaurant unaware of the cameras watching from the streets.

The biggest one crossed his arms with a scowl, shoe shaped bruise on his cheek twitching. "Yeah that's the one. I know its allies, though haven't found the hideout… yet."

The scientist folded his hands on the large keyboard in front of the wall of monitors. "Your enemies' friend is our enemy; I can make out a deal. Get me a DNA sample of your enemy and my new pets will be able to track them down. Do this for us and we'll have a win-win situation. We get what we want back, and will take your enemy out of your way, if you'd allow."

The scarred one gave a sharp nod. "But be warned that we have been deceived and failed before, and the consequences are never delightful on your part."

"Us scientists are men of our words," the scientist assured. "And besides your enemy is in the sewer, a place riddled with disgusting rivers, and we just happen to have a little shark already on the surface."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Alex balanced the four pizza boxes in her arms as she made her way down the sidewalk and sneakily slipped into an alley. It was raining steadily and getting her soaked, not to mention the cardboard boxes. How she had become the turtles' errand girl she had no idea. Could they even eat four pizzas? They had better have a can of soda for her as payment for going through this… she thought as she stood in front of the manhole cover trying to figure out how she was going to get the food to the sewers without dropping the boxes. Speaking of soda, she still had to get back at Raph for her first few days with them! Oh, he was going down sooner or later.

Finally thinking of an okay plan, Alex set the boxes on the driest part of a nearby dumpster and pulled the heavy sewer cover out of the ground. Going as fast as she could to save the pizza from sogginess she carried a box down one at a time making four trips up and down the ladder with a box balanced on one hand, setting the pizza down on the least gross part of the ground in the sewer to go retrieve the remaining pizzas. With all four in the sewer tunnel she climbed back up the ladder and put the manhole cover back in place. Jumping down she picked the pizzas up and started down the tunnel.

As she walked that guy she knew she saw was starting to bug her. She didn't just imagine it, right? No. It was just her past haunting her after she had laid it all out the day before. Her mind was just creating ghost images with grey skin, mud brown hair, green bandana… bare feet in the rain… walking right by like he was mad at her…

Alex shook her head. It wasn't him. He was still under the Statue of Liberty, still with _Them._ Her mind was just playing the guilt card on her. But she was going back for him and Physic too, one of these days…

When she finally reached the lair she was in an almost depressed state and didn't realize that the lights were off until she was already well away from the entrance.

"Uh… guys?" she called through the darkness. The place was unsettling dark. There wasn't even the soft glow from Don's computers anywhere, not even the pinpricks of light coming from the VCR and DVD players. Something was up. "Hello?" she called into the foreboding darkness, her tail slowly uncurling behind her in unease as she made her way to the kitchen purely by memory. "I've got pizza," she said, setting the boxes down on the table. She turned around to search for the lever that worked the lights when there was a soft _whoosh_ of something moving through the air at a high speed behind her. She turned around trying to see through the darkness. She felt along the table. The pizza was gone.

"Okay guys," she said, slowly backing up from the table, tail swinging from side to side, hating the fact that her wings were concealed underneath an uncut hoody. "Game's over, you can turn the lights on now." Nothing moved. "I'm not playing this, guys," she said moving to where she last remembered her backpack and pulled out the flashlight. She turned it on just in time to see a glint of metal and dove out of the way. Quickly rolling to her feet she got ready. It was a real disadvantage the flashlight could only catch bits and pieces of her surroundings at a time.

Suddenly the silence broke with a burp and Alex threw the flashlight in the direction of the sound. There was a loud _thunk_ followed by a small shriek of surprise and pain.

"Mike you really need to work on your stealth," Alex said, hands in fists, noticing how bad it was of an idea to throw her only light.

"Too bad he's the only one," a low voice said right behind her.

Alex's tail swung on impulse and one of the blades got caught with a clang of metal against metal. Suddenly her tail was yanked back, taking her with, and she fell rolling across the floor. She stood up trying to figure out which way she was facing when there was the soft sound of something landing behind her. But before she could react a long pole was pressed against her throat, pulling her up and back into a solid. She grabbed the pole, standing on her toes trying to pull it away as she choked and felt a sharp point lightly touch her in front of the heart.

Then the lights turned on and Leo stood in front of her with sword extended.

"And she's dead," Raph said, putting his sias in his belt.

Don pulled his bo staff away "That was a little too easy," he said as Alex rubbed her throat.

"Not exactly what we expected by someone with military training," Leo commented as he sheathed his katanas.

"I told you guys I was never actually taught combat," Alex defended as she pulled the hoody off and let her wings have their space. "And that was a completely unfair ambush."

"Life's unfair, kid," Raph said.

"You're talking to me about unfair?" Alex said flexing her wings. "And if I could see in the dark I could have defended myself…" she added in a mumble.

"Oh yeah?" Raph challenged.

"Yeah," Alex said straightening to her full height like that would help anything. It was obvious a fight was going to break out between the two if something wasn't said. Luckily something was said – in the form of a loud belch. When they looked for the source of the impressive, yet gross, sound they found Mikey sitting in front of one of the pizza boxes at the table, three fourths of the pizza already gone and two soda cans sitting beside the box.

"Mike that's for _all_ of us," Leo said going to the table. Alex, Don, and Raph followed before all the food was gone.

Alex was about to sit down when her chair suddenly disappeared out from under her and she hit the floor. Jumping to her feet she glared at Mikey next to her, who had a wide smile while he chomped down on his pizza slice. With an inaudible grumbling she reached for the soda sitting in front of her and put a hand on top of the can when she hesitated. Looking at Raph with narrowed eyes and put the can back on the table and instead grabbed the one sitting in front of him. Opening the one the can became a fountain on her.

Raph and Mikey laughed; at least Don was trying to hide his laughter while Leo rolled his eyes, none of them aware of the tail secretly moving across the floor under the table, a blade hooked around a chair leg and yanked back. One minute Raph's laughing, next minute the guy's on the floor, Mikey's laughing harder and Alex is smirking with the small feeling of payback, though the real vengeance wasn't yet won.

Suddenly Alex's chair jerked and she tipped over, she grabbed Mikey's chair to try and save herself, and Mikey grabbed the table as his chair started going and they took the whole table down though Leo and Don were able to save a pizza box each.

Raph stood up behind the tipped over table. "Wow, you two made such a mess," he said.

Alex pulled a pizza slice off her head with a huff, leaving red sauce stuck in the blue hair. Mikey took the pizza box off his head and just pushed a slice in his mouth, apparently not caring where he was just as long as he has his pizza.

Splinter came to investigate the sound. The adult of the lair stood there surveying the pizza splattered everywhere with a calm that just made you feel like you were in trouble.

From their spots on the floor Mikey and Alex gave guilty smiles for a moment before both of them pointed at Raph and Raph pointed at Alex while Leo and Don looked like they couldn't believe they knew the three.

"What happened here?" Splinter asked.

"Mikey tipped the table," Raph said.

"Alex tipped me!" Mikey said quickly.

"Raph tipped me," Alex quickly passed the blame.

"Alex tipped me first," Raph pointed out.

"You blasted me with soda!" Alex exclaimed.

"You have no proof," Raph crossed his arms.

"Who else would?" Alex asked, pushing the box that was sitting on her lap off.

"Mikey."

"Bro how could you say such a thing?" Mikey asked theatrically putting a hand to his chest.

"Technically, sensei," Don said, putting the pizza box in his hands on a counter. "Mikey is innocent throughout this."

Mikey smiled in his innocence.

"Raph started it," Alex muttered.

Raph opened his mouth to argue when Splinter smacked the end of his walking stick on the ground to command silence.

"Raphael, Alexandra," he said sharply his voice having that weird power adults have to show authority that almost glues other people's mouths shut. "It is not a matter of who started it or how it was started, what matters is who willingly took participation in it."

And this is where the punishment comes in… Alex thought. It always did in the movies…

Ten minutes later Alex and Raph were on their hands and knees grumbling sounds that might have been words at some point in time as they angrily pushed and pulled the scrub brushes across the floor trying to get the pizza grease off the floor after righting the tipped over table and chairs, only to move onto cleaning the rest of the lair from top to bottom. This was completely unfair…

Raph punched his brush into the bucket of soapy water and looked at it thoughtfully as the water sloshed out onto the floor. He looked behind him at Alex who was looking from the two brushes in her hands, to her shoe strings, to her feet, and back to the brushes equally as thoughtful though their ideas were completely different. With a smile that flat out and said 'I'm looking for a fight, what are you gonna do about it?' he grabbed the bucket took some kind of aim and let the contents fly. It was the girl's fault anyway.

Alex sat perfectly still, watching the droplets of soapy water collect at the ends of her hair and fall into the huge puddle around her, grip slowly tightening on the brush in her hand, it wasn't going to be there long. With a quick flick of the arm a bump was growing on the back of Raph's head. He deserved it.

Splinter walked out of his room to check how the cleaning was going to find Raph and Alex in a full out war, complete with clashing weapons. The adult interrupted the fighting just as Alex had jumped on Raph's back and jammed a still full cleaning bucket on his head, water splashing everywhere. Both of them were soaked with soapy water.

With one look at Splinter Alex knew they were in trouble, again.

Five minutes later Alex and Raph were equipped with towels and told to wipe up all the access water until the floors were bone dry.

As Alex picked up her towel to move to another puddle she held it by the corners. A smile slowly crept on her lips as she twirled it and slowly moved towards Raph like she was holding a loaded weapon. After a quick _crack_ of the towel-whip Alex was running through the lair with Raph right on her tail, literally.

They were checked on just as Raph grabbed Alex's tail and sent her skidding along the wall and crashing head first into the back of the couch. She was on her feet in seconds and jumped into the air, wings zooming her way forward to tackle Raph - no one pulls her tail! - when she was caught by the shirt, almost choking her as her collar suddenly push into her throat, and forced to stay still.

"Aw man…" Alex muttered, having a good idea what was going to come from the rat. Though she wasn't exactly expecting what the punishment was.

"I feel like I'm back at the lab," the girl complained sourly to the floor as she did unlimited pushups along side Raph. "How is exercise a punishment anyway, damn it-" _thwack_ "-ow!"

"I have warned you to not swear in my presence," Splinter said as a throbbing appeared at the top of Alex's head; a headache was bound to appear out of that hit.

"Sorry…" Alex mumbled.

"And you are doing this exercise since neither of you seem to know when it is time to stop. Hopefully your bodies will be able to tell you at some point. Until then both of you will continue this for as long as it takes."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Then next day Alex sat in Central Park on a park bench. The sky overhead was overcast and everything seemed damp and gloomy. She was resting in the corner of the back of the bench and the armrest with a leg propped up on the seat almost like she was claiming the bench as hers while her arms hurt to move; three consecutive hours of push ups could start to take their toll on a person.

As she breathed in the moisture filled air her mind wouldn't stray from what she thought she saw the day before. She knew she had seen him, and yet there was still doubt. Even if he was mad at her he would still acknowledge her if they happened to pass. He was a person with a temper fast to heat up he wouldn't just ignore her. Created with shark genes; could you blame him?

The girl gave a sigh. Now she realized just how long ago she had left the labs. She had been aware of the vow to go back always sitting at the back of her mind and really ment to go back for them - for everyone - but she couldn't go. She couldn't really fight and if she was completely honest about it, getting out of the labs was almost a fluke- a once in a life chance. How was she going to pull it off again? And with escapees?

She shook her head. She needed to stop thinking about it before she gets utterly depressed about the matter. Deep down she knew that not knowing how to fight was only half the problem, the other half was an actual fear of going back. Would she come back out if she did?

"Stop it," she hissed at herself and stood up. Splinter was right, she didn't know when to quit, she admitted as she walked through the park to the streets, then to an alley. But that also meant she wasn't going to quit on that promise she made to everyone back at the labs. She was going to go back and was going to ask to be trained by Master Splinter even if it was going to be a somewhat awkward moment. The sooner she was trained how to fight the sooner she could fulfill her promise and everything would be over.

Jumping down into the sewer she started heading for the lair before she lost her determination and courage to actually ask for the training. About half way there she started to notice something on the floor; small red specks. Not sure what to make of it, she continued forward. The farther forward she got the more frequent and bigger the specks became until they were drops that she noticed formed into a messy line. Bending down she stuck a finger in some of it and brought it close to her eyes, sniffed it; blood. It didn't feel very old judging by the wetness of it.

Straightening up she forgot about going to the lair and followed the trail as fast as her wings could take her though there wasn't much space for the twelve and a half foot wingspan. Whatever was bleeding seemed to have bled faster the farther they went and she just had a feeling whoever was at the end of the trail was someone she knew.

* * *

Hey, sorry this chapter is kind of short and doesn't really help anything plot wise except that she's finally going to ask to be trained, but the next chapter will be good. I'm not going to say much else in fear of saying too much, so enjoy this one until the next one is done!


	12. Razor Mouth

**Chapter Twelve**

**Razor Mouth**

"Who's the king of the pipe?" Mikey called around him as he sped down the sewer tunnels on his skateboard.

Raph passed him on a pair of skates. "Ha, not you!" he yelled behind him.

The four brothers were being teenagers as they raced through the pipes on Mikey's skateboard, Raph's rollerblades, Don's bike and Leo's scooter. At first it was just a matter of messing around but at some point in time it had become a race that didn't seem to have a finish line yet. Don was still trying to figure that one out but decided not to give it too much thought; Mikey was the one that started the race.

Suddenly Leo passed a red line that Raph and Mikey hadn't noticed yet. He skidded to a stop and called out to his brothers for a quick halt. They reluctantly stopped and turned around though the reluctance quickly changed to curiosity as they noticed the red too. It was smeared in a few places where they had run over it but the line was still obvious.

Don touched the liquid to tell what it was.

"Dude, when you find something in the sewers a lot of the time you shouldn't touch it."

Don ignored Mikey when his eyes widened at realization. "It's blood."

"Let me just point out that Alex disappeared earlier this morning," Leo said.

Silence fell for a moment before Raph said "I swear if that kid got into any more trouble she'd be dead by now."

"We're not supposed to swear."

"Shut up Mike."

They went down the tunnel following the line of blood. By how thicker the splatters seemed to get as they went Don was sure that the end of the trail wasn't far off. What they found wasn't what they were expecting at all.

Right before they turned a corner Leo called a stop. "Sh, listen." There was a small sound of clanking metal along with pained grunting and the occasional "Get out of me… get out of me…" coming from around the corner.

The four cautiously looked around the corner and found the end of the trail. A figure was huddled in the middle of the tunnel surrounded by a growing puddle of blood, whoever it was seemed to be working viciously at something.

"That's not Alex," Mikey said quietly as he took in the green bandana covering the hair and the grey skin coming from the torn sleeves of the shirt. At his voice the figure suddenly stopped with a twitch of sharply pointed ears. It lowly spun around to face the voice. It was a boy, around fourteen, with unnatural black eyes like there were no iris just really big pupils and mud brown bangs that protruded from underneath the bandana. Although most would think grey skin would be weird his hands and feet were worse with webbing between the fingers and strangely formed feet to fit a total of eight toes. Then there was his face with a blood covered mouth. On his left arm was a metal shackle with a broken chain fixed around his wrist while his right wrist was a bloody mess like some kind of wild animal had tried to have it for a meal.

A mix of emotions flashed over the boy's face at the sight of them. Surprise was replaced with fear that was quickly dashed by wonder, then curiosity, then confusion, pain, more confusion, a quick look of insanity and finally anger as his blood smeared lips parted unbelievably far to reveal multiple rows of jagged teeth that almost instantly reminded Mikey of the shark movie Jaws.

The boy stood up, left fist clenching and loosening, clenching and loosening, the right hand seeming unable to actually move, as he slowly walked towards them.

The guys got out from behind the corner and drew their weapons, ready to fight if need be.

"Listen," Leo said. "We don't want to fight."

The boy slowly moved closer to them. All of his features spelling out murder.

"Yeah, but I think he wants to," Mikey said, a noticeable hint of nervousness in his voice.

"Don't… under…stand…" the kid hissed, fist still clenching and unclenching.

"Don't understand what?" Don asked as they got in defensive stances.

"Don't… under…stand…" he repeated.

"Who are you?" Leo asked.

"Leave," the boy hissed.

"Okay," Mikey said and turned to go just as Alex appeared in a sliding stop at the tunnel. She looked at the four turtles and didn't see anyone hurt until she saw the boy and froze.

"No," she whispered and carefully moved towards him. Don grabbed her shoulder put she brushed him off. "He's not a real threat," she said quietly as her tail lowered to the floor, not too fast, and tapped one of the blades on the ground in a seemingly random pattern of short and long clangs with an almost precise three second delay every couple times.

The boy took a step back as emotions flashed across his face again until he settled on rage and gave a demonic hiss that showed a thin black tongue that ended in a point. "You left me. Abandoned… you should die…"

The guys behind her took offensive stances but Alex held them back. She wasn't listening to what he was saying; she was watching his left hand. What would be thought of as a clenching fist was actually him quickly opening and closing his hand in a pattern with an actual meaning. After a moment a small sad smile pulled at her mouth for a second before disappearing incase They were watching.

"Razor, I didn't want to leave you," she said with as much real emotion in her words as she could. Carrying two completely different conversations of words and gestures was going to be hard. "But I had to," she said and tapped out: .-- …. . .-. . "I was going to come back."

"Liar!" he hissed and signaled -… .- -. .- -. .-

"I'm not lying, I was going to come back," Alex said softly, slowly moving forward. "I just wasn't ready yet. You know if I did it would be my only chance, I couldn't screw it up."

"You… still… left me!" he hissed and lunged at her. But before he could land a bite with his sharp teeth Don had him pinned against he wall with his staff across his chest. The boy kicked and snarled though it was no use.

Alex walked up to the struggling kid and pulled the bandana off his head. Instantly he froze and just stood there against the wall.

"You can let him go," Alex told Don. The turtle cautiously pulled away, his brothers waiting for another attempted attack, but the boy just stood there rubbing his head until he snatched his bandana back from Alex.

"Mine," he said simply and looked at it on both sides. Finally he pulled a small microchip out of the fabric and popped it in his mouth. There was a crunch and he spat the remains on the ground. Without a word he tied the bandana back on his head and looked at his chewed up wrist. He reached into the mesh of flesh and pulled out another microchip and destroyed it the same way he did the first one, spitting the remains on the ground.

"Guys, meet Razor Mouth," Alex said as the boy pulled his shirt off and wrapped it around the destroyed wrist. His chest and back could have been a road map wrapped around his grey body with the amount of fading lines that zigzagged and crisscrossed along his skin. What stuck out, though, where six parallel slits that ran three on each side of him. They were angled like a blade had cut down but the slits weren't bleeding. "A guy that is unable to spell bandana in Morse code," Alex added.

"So I forgot the d," Razor said. "I wanna see you spell while trying to hide your thoughts and gradually loosing control of your mind and actions. Oh and sorry for attempting to rip your throat out but you can't blame me for mind control."

"You said 'banana'," Alex said. "How am I going to make any sense with banana?"

Razor ignored her.

"What'd you do to your arm, dude?" Mikey asked as the four turtles started to get that the boy and girl had some kind of friendship.

Razor looked down at his wrapped up wrist, the shirt already becoming red with blood. "I was supposed to be getting that tracker chip out of me, it was stuck in there deep, but after the first twenty bites I think I was trying to gnaw my hand off I don't know my mind was getting as murky as the sewer water but it really hurts right now. And I suggest we get out of here."

"Don't tell me…" Alex sighed.

"They're not going to be too happy when they lose the tracking signal," Razor said.

Alex looked down the tunnel. "They're already unhappy," she said as a buzzing quickly made itself heard.

Razor sniffed the air. "I smell gun powder."

"We should go," Alex said.

"I agree," Razor said and the two left the tunnel. Razor looked back around the corner. "Oh um, you should know that whatever's following us is also looking for a bunch of humanoid turtles too. So uh, watch out for the electric nets. Bye!"

Just as Razor disappeared from the turtles' view a swarm of the bug robots appeared at the other end of the tunnel. They stopped, hovering in the air scanning who was in front of them. A launcher unfolded from underneath one of them and with a small boom a net was flying at them. They flattened on the ground, the net just barely missing as it went over their heads.

"So much for them not paying attention to us," Mikey said as they got back to their feet. "I don't know about you guys but I'm going with Alex on this one."

The four started backing up.

"Tactical retreat," Leo said more to assure himself that it wasn't just running away. "Run to fight another day."

"Works for me," Don said as they turned and headed out of the sewer. Picking up their skates, board, scooter and bike they rode down the tunnel and turned a corner before the bugs had time to catch up. They quickly found Alex.

"Where'd your friend go?" Leo asked.

"He can't run very good on dry land," Alex said and as if on cue Razor appeared in the sewer water running along side where they were with a gasp.

"God these sewers are going to kill me gunking up my gills like this."

"Come on, if we hurry we could make it back to the lair without the robots following us," Leo said.

Razor put an arm out to the side. "Lead the way."

Unable to use her wings with the risk of the robot with the net launcher Alex stood on the pegs sticking out of the rear tire of Don's bike as Razor followed in the water. They were able to tell where he was thanks to a grey dorsal fin sticking up out of the murky surface.

When they reached the end of the last tunnel with water in it Razor climbed out of the water to follow on foot.

"I think we lost them," Don said.

Razor shook his head. "I can still smell gun powder; one of them has the machine gun attachment. I suggest we disappear before it has a chance to use it."

Alex was right; Razor wasn't exactly the best runner. He had the muscles to run fast but wasn't used to the movements of running since he preferred swimming.

They reached the lair and the bug robots hadn't caught up. As the turtles went to put their means of transportation away Alex stood with Razor as he tried to pull the dorsal fin protruding from his upper spine between the shoulder blades. Some of the slime that allowed the least human-like features to be pushed and pulled in and out of the body had washed off in the water and had started to dry while he ran and was having more trouble than usual. The four turtles had come back just in time to see the fin finally go into his back.

"Okay that's gross," Mikey said.

"I can't exactly go around in public with it coming out of my shirt," Razor pointed out the obvious for him. He jabbed a thumb in Alex's direction. "Alex was able to do the same with her wings and tail until she let them dry out at some point."

"I forgot about them, and it was really windy where I was," Alex said in her defense. "But really Razor, you've changed. I don't remember you having that many rows of teeth and your tongue…"

"I have it easy Alex," Razor said sadly as Don wrapped his arm in a bandage. "They've started post-creation mutations. It started out as my punishment for trying to leave, they didn't know or care if it was going to destroy me but it didn't and I haven't had trouble shifting from breathing through the nose to the gills since they mutated me. But when I came out this successful they started trying it out on the others. Sometimes they make it perfectly fine, sometimes their bodies make it but their minds will never be the same and other times… all I can say is they go into the mutation duct and never come out."

"What about Psych, is he okay?" Alex asked.

Razor nodded. "Yeah he's fine. They haven't done anything to him; they can't do anything to him. He's gotten more and more defensive over the past couple months. If an actual adult gets within five feet of him they seem to forget what they were doing and just leave. He's lucky though some of the others are starting to worry; he spends most of his time asleep nowadays."

Alex was glad to hear that Psych was fine but she still didn't like the news. Post-creation mutations? The labs were getting worse and worse and here she was free of it all except for those damned robots. She had to go back some time soon. That's when a realization clicked on. "Razor, you're here, you escaped!"

Razor rubbed his head. "Not… exactly. Alex They're getting really angry about how long its taking for you to come back. I heard one of the combat teachers talking about just going ahead and killing you. I didn't escape, I was sent to come hunt you down and drag you back by any means. That's why I had the tracker and mind control chips, They knew I was going to try and run off. I actually did try and that didn't turn out too well," he indicated his bandaged arm. "I can't imagine what they're going to try now and security is going to be through the roof so we can't try and go back without getting caught. And if we're caught…" he looked down at his road map of a front. "All I should say is they're going to leave more than a few scars. We're out and if we try to go back we'll never leave. I know it, and so do you."

"Then what do you suggest? I can't just turn my back on Psych and the others."

"You're not the only one capable of rebelling," Razor said, putting a hand on Alex's shoulder. "There will be other rebels. All we can do is hope they can lead a rebellion and make it."

Alex shook her head. "You really have changed. Razor if I was going to turn my back on everyone we know then I would be out of this city, I would probably be on another continent, but I'm not."

"You're not going to let this go, are you?" Razor asked.

Alex looked at him, able to see her stubborn determination in the reflection of his black eyes. "No."

Razor's mouth curved into a sharp toothed smile, "I still can't argue with you."

Alex smiled back; even when she had left him behind he was still ready to follow her if it meant helping those like them. They were going to do it some way or another. She couldn't help but think of the humongous odds against them though. Mutant vs. Scientist? Experiment vs. Creator? Not exactly a fight people would look forward to especially with the quote "We put you in this world and we can take you out" that was constantly put over her head when she didn't follow orders.

Razor pulled his hand away. "There's something I have to say though."

"That would be?" Alex asked, not noticing her friend's clenched fist. One minute she's standing next thing she knows she's on her back with a pain pulsing from between her eyes.

Razor crossed his arms. "You left me behind."

…---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---… …---…

Later that day Razor had disappeared in the lair after full introductions had been done. Last time Alex had seen him he was talking with Don about what was going on exactly, how the mutations were being done and things like that. Stuff Alex didn't really want to willingly bring up. Everyone seemed to be doing their own thing, too busy to acknowledge the girl standing in front of the Japanese-style doors with her hands stuffed down her pockets, determination fighting with awkwardness. She couldn't seem to get her feet to move forward. Why was this so hard? It was a simple question!

Before her mind could be made up on whether or not she was actually going to go through with it a voice said through the doors "You can enter, Alexandra."

I've lived in New York for years on my own, I killed ninjas on a roof (though accidentally through anger), have gone through hell in the first couple years of my life and am planning to infiltrate thee most hi-tech place on the planet at some point in the future and yet I can't ask a simple question? This is stupid. With a deep breath Alex walked into the room.

Splinter was sitting in the middle of the room with his back to the door.

Alex gracelessly kneeled down behind him, not exactly sure how to show respect in Master Splinter's way of traditional Japanese. Back in the labs she was more trouble than anything so she was never really taught information beyond the basic topics teens her physical age would speak of and survival. So she just decided on sitting there.

"You are uneasy, correct?"

"Uh… yeah kind of," Alex said. "Its just I was wondering… um… if… oh this is stupid, I'm sorry Master Splinter," she said and started to stand up giving up on asking.

"Wait," Splinter said and Alex hesitated only half way to her feet. "If you have an innocent question about something that benefits yourself you should ask and not be afraid of the answer."

He was right, Alex thought. Wait, I'm not afraid of the answer, am I? It's a simple question! Okay mouth, just spit it out. Say it… say it… Open your big mouth that never had a problem talking before and say "I was wondering if you could teach me how to fight… please." There, that wasn't so hard.

"You want to fight to help your other friends?"

"Yes, as soon as I can."

"Then we have a lot of ground to cover."

Alex smiled. "Thank you, Master Splinter."

* * *

Hi! Sorry its been a while, I admit that I've had this chapter done for a while now but I just wasn't sure if I liked it. Anyway, so this is Razor Mouth the name should be quite self-explanitory. I don't know if I got down everything I wanted to so I might wind up changing this chapter at some point down the road so bare with me please.

Um... I can't think of anything else to say here so enjoy the chapter! Oh, and R R people that haven't been please, I can tell you guys are reading it but I'd still like to know your thoughts!


	13. Strengthening Up, Settling Down

For those that might have been e-mailed and wondering why this has been posted again, a fixed this chapter so the scene deviders are now visible, which will make reading it a lot easier. This chapter has just been bothering me becuase the deviders weren't there.

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Strengthening Up**

**Settling Down**

"Move."

"You move."

"I was here first."

"I don't care. Get your foot out of my butt."

"Get your feet out of my space."

"Ow! Don't kick me."

"Hey! Don't kick _me._"

"You started it."

"Don't make me finish it."

"I'd like to see you try."

The two escaped science experiments sat up to glare at each other through the dark. Two teenage bodies sleeping on a single couch equaled nothing good. It was the middle of the night and neither of them was going to get any sleep unless they figured something out. Alex pointed this out and Razor believed he had the solution.

"Sleep on the floor, problem solved."

"What- me?!" Alex hissed, trying not to wake anyone up. "Why don't you? Show respect for your elders."

"Elders?" Razor scoffed. "You were created a week before me, big deal. Besides, you owe me."

"I owe you nothing; you punched me in the face!"

"Yeah, I'm about to do it again."

"Not if I knock you out first."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

"Be ready to believe it," Alex said and blindly swung a fist and the war began. After figuring out that they couldn't fight very well in the dark they tried multiple attempts of sleeping on the couch together. It went from trying to sleep with their heads against the headrests with their feet meeting in the middle which failed with them complaining of the other kicking them. Then they tried the other way with their heads meeting in the middle that didn't work when they constantly bumped heads.

Razor tried a trick of grabbing a couch cushion, jamming it down on top of Alex and laying on it sticking Alex in a very uncomfortable sandwich which she fixed by rolling over and knocking the boy to the ground. From there she threw him a pillow and stretched out to take up the whole couch. Razor angrily got up and plopped on the couch and wound up sitting on Alex's lower back. Alex rolled over and wound up putting them both on the floor.

The two wrestled as they tried to keep the other from getting up and claiming the couch. The fight ended in a draw when they both jumped on and started pushing to knock the opponent off.

From there they tried to call a truce and work out a way that they both could sleep on the couch without too much discomfort. It was easier said than done as they tried sitting back to back only to find it was hard to fall asleep sitting up. From there they tried numerous different positions that always ended as both awkward and uncomfortable.

After what must have been an hour Alex huffed. "This is impossible."

Razor yawned. "I agree."

"I think I got an idea," Alex said.

"I'm all ears," Razor said.

They finally agreed on a position where Alex got the cushions and Razor laid on the top of the couch. From there they both were able to fall asleep with the agreement that they'd switch spots every night until they could find another plan. It was working too until the guys woke up.

Mikey stood behind the couch holding Don's weapon, he was going to put it back as soon as he was done. He couldn't help it as he held the weapon out, holding it just inches away from Razor's temple as he laid there with his face partially buried in the couch half snoring. Just as the wooden pole was about to touch him he shifted and Mikey quickly jerked back only to slowly move the end closer again.

Behind the prankster one of his brothers quietly crept up behind him, leaning over his shoulder. "What'ja doin'?"

Mikey jumped and almost dropped the staff at Raph's sudden voice. "Sh…" he whispered and tried again with the extended weapon.

Razor's ear twitched. "Touch me with that and you're gonna have a broken stick," he said cracking an eye open to glare at the turtle intruding on his sleep, pulling the corner of his mouth open to threateningly reveal the many pointed teeth.

"It's not a stick," Don said appearing out of nowhere and swiped his weapon from Mikey and hit him on the head with it. "And don't take my staff."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"I don't think this is actually fair," Alex said as she started to back up.

"Sadly, there are many times in the present where a warrior will be outnumbered in unfair battles," Splinter said from the sidelines as Alex's first training session with the guys was a four-on-one fight to see just what she could do. Beside Splinter was Razor eating out of a bag of popcorn.

"Doesn't mean training has to be unfair," Alex said as she quickly ducked under Mikey's nunchucks and jumped to the side to avoid Leo's katana. She ducked again and swung a leg around, knocking Raph to the floor. She meant to jump forward, finding it easier to keep moving instead of staying in the same spot for more than a few seconds, when she was yanked back, thrown, and hit the wall with a pain from her backside. "Would people stop pulling the tail?" she grumbled angrily.

"You need to pay more attention to where your tail is in battle," Splinter advised

"I know exactly where it is: right behind me," Alex muttered under her breath as she got up and swung her tail just in time to have a clang of metal against metal as she pushed Leo's sword away. She stepped back and tripped over something behind her. Landing on her back she was looking down Leo's blade before she could get up.

Razor started clapping.

"You have a few moves," Don said pulling his staff away after tripping her.

"But you could still use help," Leo said holding a hand out to help her up after putting his swords away. Alex accepted the hand and got to her feet.

"Yeah…" she said. "But wait when I can kick your butt."

"I'll believe that the day I see it," Raph said.

Alex crossed her arms. "Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

Mikey clapped her on the back. "Don't take it personally, Al. It's just we have fifteen years of experience over you."

"Fifteen years or fifteen minutes doesn't matter," Razor said as he tried to throw a piece of popcorn in the air and catch it in his mouth. It missed and hit him in the eye.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Alex asked with crossed arms.

"You don't fight, you run off."

"I've said I'm sorry, would you just let it go?"

Razor looked like he was thinking it over. "No," he said after a minute and threw a piece of popcorn in his mouth.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Calm, quiet. Think of nothing. Concentrate on breathing only. Push out the world, the worries, the stress, the fighting… everything… Think of nothing but breathing. In… out… in… out… Hear the heart beating, feel the blood flowing. Let the dark envelop me- but not suffocate. No, this is an open darkness with nothing but calm… Nothing else exists…

"What'cha doin'?" Mikey's voice shattered her state of calm bringing the world back in a rush.

With a huff Alex looked up and saw Mikey looking at her.

"What does it look like I'm doing Mike?" she said with a little annoyance.

"Hanging upside down from the ceiling, looking like a bat or vampire or something," Mikey said. It was the true; the girl had been hanging from the rafters by her tail with her wings folded around her.

"Your point?" she asked.

Mikey shrugged. "What are you doing?"

"I was trying to meditate."

"Upside down?"

With a roll of the eyes and a sigh Alex unhooked her tail from the ceiling rafter, flipped in the air and landed on her feet almost falling over on impact but she caught herself, folding her wings behind her. "Yes upside down," she said now that they were mostly eye level. "The best way to meditate is to relax and I relax when I'm upside down. I don't know why, it's probably the bat in me."

"Yep, you're completely batty."

"Shut up Razor before I chop your head off!"

"I'd bite your head off first!"

Alex clenched her fists. How could she be friends with that guy? "Mikey did you need something?" she asked trying to ignore shark boy.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to go skate the pipes," Mikey said holding up the skateboard he had in his hand.

"Maybe later," Alex said. "Sitting still, never thought it was so hard."

"You really are serious about going back to… wherever you came from aren't you?"

Alex nodded defiantly. "I've seen Razor he's not like he used to be. I don't want to imagine everyone else."

Mikey gave a big smiled. "Well when you do me and my bros will be right behind you."

Alex smiled. "Thanks Mike," she said as they stacked fists.

"You saved my life Al I owe ya one."

Alex shook her head. "No you don't; you saved my life first, remember? If it wasn't for you guys I don't know where I'd be."

"You needed help," Mikey said like anyone would have done the same. "No one deserves to die if they haven't done anything but live."

"That's the truth," Alex said with a nod. "Hey why don't we play Zombie Smasher IV or something when I'm done sitting still?"

"Okay," Mikey said and walked off to find something to do in the mean time.

Alex jumped up and flapped her wings back to the rafter. After hooking her tail back onto the beam she gently let herself down and hung there wings folding back around her as a smile pulled at her mouth. Maybe she was wrong in the beginning; maybe agreeing to stay was a good idea after all.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Don leaned back in his chair in triumph. He was still the undefeated champion at chess. He'd been to championships on the internet and hadn't lost a single game.

Razor hit his head on the table. All that training on tactical movements and thinking ahead and he couldn't find a way out of check in a game that duplicated war. He glared at the game board like the pieces were going to tell him the best way to move them. His fingers drummed against the table as he thought of his next move that wasn't suicidal for his army.

While this was going on Alex lay on the couch with headphones on and reading a borrowed comic book from Mikey as she listened to music, tail tapping on the floor to the beat, or… so it looked. Hidden behind the comic book was another book titled "The Morons Guide to Chess". No one seemed to notice that the headphones were actually plugged into anything as she stared over the top of the book pages, watched Razor's fingers on the table in concentration. Inside the pointless tapping of irritation was a secret code: index finger hitting the table - dot; the other three fingers hitting the table - dash; all four drumming the table - space.

The girl's tail tapped the floor with a soft clang in a rhythmic reply to keep her disguise in tact.

Razor lifted his head from the table as he scanned the battle field. With a single move Razor was smiling and Don couldn't believe it.

"No way, that's not right!"

Razor leaned his chair back onto the back two legs hands behind his head.

Don looked over the board in desperation. There was no way that this kid could beat him. There was just no possible way.

Alex couldn't help but smile in the shared victory when the guide book suddenly disappeared from her hands.

"This is cheating," Leo said holding the book over her head.

Alex looked at him blankly. "That's not mine."

"Cheating?" Razor asked innocently. "I wasn't cheating, how could you say such a thing? I'm just sitting here trying to win at chess and you guys are accusing me of cheating. Thanks a lot."

"Yeah and I was just learning how to play chess, I'm not cheating," Alex defended. "Can't a kid just read a book?"

Don smiled. "Doesn't matter anyways," he said. "Checkmate."

"Wait- what?" Razor said dropping his chair to all fours looking at the game board and found his king lying on its side in defeat. "Alex you are a horrible helper!" he exclaimed at the girl on the couch. "I'm never going to trust my life to you in battle."

"Better luck next time guys," Don said as he stood up.

Razor stood up also. "Worst commander ever," he said pointing at Alex.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

A month passed of Alex and Razor living with the guys and Splinter. Things were going well and everything was as normal as a group of mutants could have life. Over the first couple days it was agreed that they would be safest if the entire group was to stay away from going street level at any time now that the bug robots were after all of them instead of just Alex. Over those days Splinter instructed Alex in the basics of hand-to-hand combat and helped her with keeping track of her tail so people would stop using it as a handle to throw her around. Razor had finally chewed the shackle off his wrist and proved that nothing could separate him from his bandana after Mikey had tried to use it as a cleaning rag.

When they were finally permitted to go top side if they were cautious Razor was introduced to April and Casey. Like Alex Razor didn't like April much, not because she was mean or anything but she had a scientific background and both of them were fed up with most anything to do with direct science.

Now Alex was spending most of her time trying to think of a way to sneak into the labs without the plan backfiring. But she still made time trying to take revenge on Raph with the whole soda can incident after they had first met. She figured if she couldn't plan that right without a sticky ending she needed more time for the labs. Ideas weren't coming to her very well though with a limited amount of sleep from trying to share the couch with Razor, but they couldn't really do anything about it except fight.

Another two weeks had passed and the group was starting to go out into the city with more ease. Alex was proving to be a fast learner and dedicated student with Splinter as Razor voluntarily spared with her though over half the time the sparring went from practicing to trying to finish an argument as physically as possible.

"Gah!" Alex exclaimed in pain growing rigid. She turned around with a glare about to kick her spar partner in the gut as he crouched there with her tail in his mouth.

He let go. "Sorry."

"Yeah I'll give you sorry," Alex said shaking her fist.

Razor put his fists up. "Bring it on."

"Enough," Splinter intervened. "Alexandra though you are a very good student and are learning on a faster pace than anticipated you have still to learn to keep your tail out of danger while you are moving in battle. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link and you're tail is proving to be a very weak link."

"Ha, weakling," Razor said flicking Alex on the head.

Alex got ready to hit him back when they were interrupted from their fighting again.

"Razor," Splinter said sharply. "You need to remember that you also have you're weaknesses."

"Yeah," Alex said. "How 'bout a foot race?"

"Shut up," Razor said. "I could beat you in a water race so we're even."

"Foot and air," Alex pointed out flexing her wings. "I win."

"I can still beat you down!" Razor exclaimed and lunged at her. The two went rolling across the floor in a fight.

Leo watched them roll by. "Training going well?"

"Their years on this earth surpass their appearances and their bodies are well made for fighting but their minds show that they are still merely children."

Leo's mouth twisted down a little. The two were just kids, like him and his brothers, and there were others like Alex and Razor - like his family - living imprisoned in some laboratory, being punished for rebellion like Razor was? And being mutated again couldn't be anywhere near comfortable. He was willing to help Alex in her vow - and quickly for the sake of anything that's right in the world - but they couldn't do anything until the girl believed she was ready to go, and he wasn't going to press the matter on her. If it was him and his brothers in the position he would want to do anything to save them but it was always best to plan first instead of just jumping head first into the thick of things not having the slightest clue what he was doing. It was best to just let the girl decide when she was ready, when she was she'd tell them.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Raph couldn't take it anymore; after a week straight he was going to loose it. He was initially a heavy sleeper but those two experiments out on the couch were starting to keep him up in the middle of the night and he was getting tired of listening to their bickering! It was annoying! He was a few inches away from duct taping their mouths shut so he could get a good sleep again.

At first it was quiet with them having a mutual understanding of their sleeping arrangements but over the past couple weeks the arguing had been starting up and the turtle couldn't take it anymore. It was amazing none of his brothers had done, or even mentioned, anything about it yet.

I swear, he thought while pressing his hands to his head, if I have to fix this there'll only be one kid left on that couch…

The next day Raph went to Don sure that the brainiac would have the solution to his situation while the two problems were awake doing their own things acting so innocent like they weren't stealing his hours of sleep. Razor was listening to music on Alex's borrowed MP3 player while Alex was trying to build a card skyscraper with five decks with Mikey at the kitchen table. Raph didn't know it was even possible for Mike to concentrate so hard like that without seriously injuring his brain.

Don was sitting at his desk in his room with a book titled 'Morse Code: How to Learn It and Ways to Use It' propped up as he took notes and tried to learn the hardly-ever-used way of giving messages. After almost losing at Chess thanks to the hidden messages he wasn't going to take his chances with those two. After realizing just how fast the two must have been relaying messages to each other by thinking how quickly Razor had been drumming his fingers on the table and Alex secretly replying he was going to need to know the code pretty well to keep up.

Wow, he thought, I've never had to keep up with anyone on understanding something before.

The guy was so busy concentrating on putting the dots and dashes to memory he didn't even know Raph was standing behind him saying his name until he received a sharp knock on the head.

"What?" he asked turning around in his swivel chair.

"We have a problem," Raph said with crossed arms as he leaned against the edge of the desk.

"Yeah you need to learn a more subtle way of getting people's attention."

Not even going to bother on figuring out what 'subtle' meant, or wondering if it was even English, Raph went ahead and said "We need to find something other than those two sharing the couch as a bed."

After a moment Don said slowly "…how is this a problem?"

"Because they're keeping me awake with their fighting over the damned thing."

"First of all: we're not supposed to swear," Don pointed out. "Secondly: I can't believe you pointed this out over lost beauty sleep, but I guess you need it." Raph had to restrain himself from hitting the annoying smart-alik. "But…" Don continued. "Yeah I guess the couch is kind of small for them to be sharing it continuously like they are."

"So what do we do?" Raph asked.

"By 'we' I'm guessing you mean me considering if you tried to fix the problem we'll probably have one less person in the lair." The more aggressive of the two wasn't even going to point out how the idea had already crossed his mind. "I think I already have an idea," Don said standing up. "I'll go ask Master Splinter if we have any extra blankets."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... …--...

"Answer me this: how the hell did we get stuck doing their shopping?!" Razor yelled as he lugged around a duffle bag on his shoulder that was filled with odds and ends that ranged from clothes to office supplies to CDs to hardware.

"You have to admit that the shoes and sweatshirt are for you," Alex said looking at a piece of paper in her hand as they walked down the sidewalk at two in the afternoon.

"I'm sick of these cashiers looking at us funny when we buy all this stuff," Razor grumbled. "And why aren't _you _carrying anything?!" he exclaimed pointing at Alex with a hand covered by a sweatshirt that was too big for him so that the sleeves covered up the webbing between his fingers. It was already bad enough that he couldn't open his mouth much at check-out for fear of someone noticing his teeth or tongue, and that they couldn't eat lunch at a McDonalds because some five-year-old noticed he wasn't wearing shoes, whom he scared off by giving the poor child a wide toothed snarl. The lunch incident was what caused them to go find a pair of shoes which he would rarely wear. He had already taken them off after they had left a different McDonalds for lunch.

"I am too carrying something," Alex said with a smile knowing her answer would annoy him. "I'm carrying the list." She put the scribbled on paper in his face. So much the boy wanted to just bite off a chunk out of the paper and spit it at her through a straw. Actually, forget the straw he'd just throw it at her with his bare hand.

"Whatever," the boy grumbled. "What's next on the list?"

Alex looked at the bottom of the list. "Uh… a pair of comics for Mikey, and then a short grocery list, after that we should be done."

"Finally," Razor sighed as he shifted the bag's strap so it would stop digging into his shoulder.

"So…" Alex said, stuffing the list in her pocket. "Where again did you get the money for all this?"

"Well let's see…" Razor said like he was actually thinking about it. "I got some from Don, I found a twenty in my dirty pants pocket, fifty left over from last Christmas, thirty from a piggy-bank that I've forgotten about stashed under my bed, oh and a five that I was using as a book mark, and I don't think my bank account will miss the rest."

"Oh yeah," Alex said. Translation: he stole it all from some bank at some point in time. Though she had to admit how somewhat realistic he made it sound. Both of them had to remember that to everyone outside of the sewers and labs they were just another pair of teenagers. "I didn't know you could read."

Razor punched her in the arm as they stopped at a corner getting ready to cross the street when he noticed a security camera sitting on the wall of a store building surveying the streets. He leaned close to Alex and whispered in her ear "They're watching…"

Alex looked at him and couldn't help a joking smile to continue the show for the public, but on the inside she was hoping he wasn't right. They hadn't been attacked by robots in a while and she was hoping that the lair would never be found unlike the so many other places she had once stayed. But with things like this it was only a matter of time.

When they entered the comic store Alex was the one that had to hunt down the titles as Razor just followed her exaggerating huffs and sighs. He was getting really tired of carrying their shopping trip around on his shoulder. Leaning against a rack he gave a long sigh and said "Can we go home yet?"

As soon as the phrase left his mouth both of them froze. That time it wasn't an act for the general public, he had actually meant it. That was… unusual. They looked at each other, the same question on their minds. Since when did they have a 'home'?

After a few seconds of silence Razor cracked a smile and Alex gave a hushed laugh. That one question had changed everything. They had a home now… apparently.

"Just one more stop," Alex finally said as she led him to the counter and paid for the new comic book.

"Not very often I see the boy wanting to leave," the guy at the counter said.

"We're not…" Alex started slowly, looking at Razor. "Exactly the most normal pair you'll find."

"Not alone there, man," the guy said and handed her a receipt as Alex put the comic in her backpack careful not to crease or wrinkle it in any way.

After what felt like hours of pushing the cart that was slowly filling with varieties kinds of junk food and some things that were actually healthy, Razor shoved the cart in front of the checkout counter and started unloading it (almost dropping a liter of soda in the process with his sleeve covered hands).

The lady behind the counter was a teenager just a few years older than their appearances and was giving them funny looks.

Alex turned to Razor. "I can't believe my parents stuck us with the shopping list."

Razor stole a glance at the girl behind the register. "I know," he said making sure to face away from the cashier if he happened to open his mouth too wide. "I don't see why they couldn't do it; I just wanted to play videogames. At least they gave us the money to pay for it all… its enough, right?"

"Should be," Alex said with a shrug.

When they paid for the food Razor crossed his arms at the bags. Alex huffed and grabbed them and they headed out of the store. On the way back to the sewers the two passed a group of teens hanging out in front of a mall. They stopped for a moment just looking at them.

Alex sighed at how happy they looked just hanging out with friends, no cares in the world.

"Lucky…" Razor muttered with a hint of scorn in his voice.

Alex shifted her grip on the plastic bags and nudged the shark boy beside her. "Come on, let's get out of here."

They continued through the city until they came upon a familiar shady alleyway. Making sure no one was looking their way Razor picked up the heavy manhole cover. Being extra careful that no one really was looking Alex cautiously let her tail out from under her shirt and wove it into the handles of the plastic bags. It was an odd weight on the tail but she was able to hold the bags up and it kept her hands free as she as she climbed down the ladder. When she reached the bottom of the ladder Razor dropped the duffle bag down to her. She caught it in her arms, stumbling a little from the unexpected weight, as Razor started his way down. He jumped the last few rungs and landed easily on the tunnel floor. Alex held out the duffle bag.

"I don't think so, I lugged that thing all across the city," he said with crossed arms. "You can have it the rest of the way."

Alex rolled her eyes and swung her tail around. "Then take these."

Razor backed away. "No I think I'm good."

"Seaweed head…" Alex said warningly. It was an odd nickname that she had made up for him relating to his bandana having the color of seaweed. He hated the name and Alex loved to annoy him with it.

"Just for that I'm not taking them," Razor said and started down the tunnel at a run.

Alex started after him though she was slowed down by the weight of the duffel bag and groceries. By the time she caught up with him he had disappeared with a splash and a dark shadow was moving through the sewer water.

"You are so dead tonight…" Alex muttered crossly as she trudged through the sewers carrying their entire shopping trip through the tunnels.

When she reached the lair and entered a feeling of something not being right passed through her. Looking around she found that the place seemed to be deserted. Slowly she went to the kitchen and dropped the bags of food on the table. There was a kind of feeling going through her that just told her something was going to jump out of the most unexpected place and attack. Quickly she bent down and looked under the table; nope, nothing down there.

"Hmph…" She straightened up and turned around. "Razor!" she gasped with a small jump back from the boy appearing out of nowhere. She had dropped the duffle bag in the process, making it land on both their feet. They jumped up and down in pain.

"Damn it!" Razor exclaimed holding his bare foot that had grown a pulse. "Why do you have to be so jumpy?"

"I'm not jumpy you snuck up on me!" Alex defended. "And don't swear."

"I can swear if I want to! I'm freak'n barefoot here!"

"We got you shoes if you remember."

"Shut up."

"Well it serves you right for abandoning me," Alex said with crossed arms. Her foot didn't hurt very much the pain was just the shock of something falling on it.

Razor rolled his eyes. "Oh please."

Alex shook her head and looked around the lair. "Is it just me or does this place seem too…" she couldn't think of a good word for it.

"Quiet? Deserted? Abandoned?" Razor suggested as he looked around too. "I agree." He shrugged. "They might have just gone out."

"It's the middle of the day," Alex said. "But then again they might have left to go somewhere underground. But…"

"There's a feeling of being watched? Yeah me too," Razor said, his eyes looking suspiciously around scanning the surrounding area.

Alex sighed, though her fists were clinched. She took a few steps forward to survey the open area of the main room, knees bent, tail slowly starting to swing behind her ready for a fight. Behind her Razor turned around and put their backs together. Never leave your back open, destroy the element of surprise as much as possible. As Alex looked around she noticed something that hadn't been there before they left in the corner. She pointed to it, "Hey do you see tha-" the lights suddenly turned off plunging the two into darkness "-never mind."

Razor pressed his back against Alex's. He smelled steel but that could be a number of things in the room. There was also the scent of the four turtles and the rat, could they be doing this to them? It was possible he guessed but this was where they lived so the place would be covered in their scent. It was hard to tell and he didn't smell anyone else except for him and Alex. He strained his ears for movement that would pinpoint any living thing in the dark when he heard distinct quick tapping of metal on the ground: .- -. -.-- -- -. . ..--..

Quickly thinking of a way to reply he pulled the too-long-sleeve up away from his hand and reached behind him until he touched Alex's arm. Tapping his index finger against her skin he replied: -.-. .- -. .--. - - . .-.. .-.. .-.-.-

... ..- ... .--. . -.-. - ..--..

Razor hesitated taking a last sniff, starting to wish he had night vision like some of the latest successful ones. The thought was quickly torn in two and he replied: - ..- .-. - .-.. . ... ..--..

.. - ... .. -. -.- ... -- - -- -- .-.-.- Alex remembered last time and wasn't going to let this time be a repeat. "Okay guys," she slowly called out. "I know it's you, it's your guys' move first." There was no answer. Just silence from the darkness surrounding them. Alex was starting to become uneasy, she hated deathly silences like this. She had to end it before it swallowed her first, time for drastic measures. "Okay Mike, I know you're listening so listen well. Surrender your stealth mode or the brand-new-mint-condition-hasn't-even-left-the-plastic-sleeve-yet comic book that was found just for you will meet my new friends Ms. Scissors and Mr. Lit-Match."

There was a small squeak quickly followed by a sharp smack.

Razor gave a dark smile as his ears sharply twitched: busted. "Mikey step out from behind the TVs." Now he had them, it was easy when he knew he what he was looking for. An ear sharply twitched at the sound of the softest sigh of disappointment. Leo? No… "Don you need a better spot than under the table." There was a tiny chuckle. "Raph stop laughing and come down from the rafters." Razor waited for another signal but none came, too bad for the turtle bad he didn't need a sound. "Okay Leo you may have self restraint I'll give you that, but I still know you're up in that corner wedged between the wall and the cupboard."

"Show off," Alex said trying to hide the disappointment in her voice; she really wanted to fight to show how well she was doing in training.

Razor smiled as he went in the general direction of the couch. "At least I don't have to threaten someone to figure out where they are." The small truth was he was the one needed to be threatened. His senses had a tendency to heighten considerably when he started to feel even a little unsafe in his surroundings.

The lights were suddenly turned on by Master Splinter showing the four turtles out in the open.

"Dude, how'd you find Leo?" Mikey asked as Razor jumped onto the couch, knocking the remote into the air with the bounce and coolly caught it in his hand, a move he had perfected over the weeks.

The boy tapped the side of his nose as if in answer. "It's all in the nose bro. Considering my genes are almost evenly split between human and shark, along with a sliver of something else, I have an unreal sense of smell."

"Hey wait a minute!" Alex said realizing something. "I looked under the table no one was there."

"Did you look at the space under the table or the actual underside?" Razor asked. "Come on, it's a classic place in the movies."

Alex rolled her eyes. It wasn't that obvious. She turned her attention away from the shark boy's victory of sniffing out the ninjas. "Hey guys, what's with the blanket covering up the corner over there?" she asked pointing to what had caught her attention before the lights had shut off. It was a blanket hung up on a pole stuck between the two walls cutting off the corner to make a small kind of triangular room that probably had a few blankets on the floor for a bed. It must have been set up while the two were out.

"Well we figured that the couch is kind of small for the both of you," Don said. "And since we don't have another room one of you can have the couch and the other can have the blankets over there."

Alex and Razor looked at each other for a moment before Razor leapt over the back of the couch and Alex made a dash for it. Like Razor has been constantly reminded of his lack in running skills Alex made it to the blankets first.

"Mine!"

"Fine I wanted the couch anyways, more TV for me," Razor said to the blanket hanging like a wall in front of him.

On the other side of the makeshift wall Alex had her hands behind her head with a genuine smile pulling at the corners of her mouth as she lay on the pile of blankets that were now hers. It might just be her, and she was never going to voice it, but somehow the act of giving them another kind of bed so her and Razor didn't have to share the couch seemed to confirm what Razor had said earlier. The guys were accepting them and this was their new home now. And somehow nothing was going to change that. No amount of scientists or robots was going to change it. She was going to defend what was now hers; her home, her family.

Alex put a hand over her face. Wow, she thought, that was sooooo sappy.

* * *

I finally updated! I've been stuck with writer's block for a while and it completely sucks. Sorry for the first half of the chapter with all the short scenes but I needed to cover a lot of story time in a small amount of real world time. (I hope that made sense...) Anyway you've probably figured out that the section deviders are morse code, and if not then this chapter kind of gives it away, and I'M NOT TELLING WHAT THEY SAY! really I won't say what any of the written code says, you'll just have to figure it out for yourself. HAHAHA! XD

On a less crazy note: I don't know how far off the next chapter will be but it will be some time in the future I can promise you guys that much.

Thanks for reading this so far! Please read and review! See ya


	14. A Dream, Bandana, and a Loose Tooth

Chapter Fourteen

**Chapter Fourteen**

**A Dream, Bandana**

**And a Loose Tooth**

This wasn't right. It couldn't be right. It made no sense.

Alex looked around but there was nothing to see, she was surrounded by darkness. But when she held a hand up she could see that clearly, color and all, when she looked down at her middle and legs she could see them perfectly too. So… was she surrounded by darkness or nothing?

As she looked around for a sign of anything, and wondering why her nothingness was black instead of white, the feeling hit her. It was an odd feeling of knowing something was missing - something important.

As she continued to sit on some cold hard surface that she couldn't see, she decided to tap out a rhythm with her tail to get rid of the silence around her as she thought.

No sound.

Okay come on I need noise… Alex thought.

Nothing happened. That's when she realized that she wasn't moving anything.

Slowly, not sure if she wanted to know, she reached a hand behind her and felt along the back of her pants. Her eyes widened when she found nothing there. She jumped to her feet and fell over; no balance. She became short of breath with worry and disbelief.

"No, no, no, no, no, no…" This wasn't right! How could her tail be gone?! It was just… wrong. "At least I still have my-" she moved her shoulders and didn't feel anything on her shoulder blades "my- my- my…"

This really wasn't right. She wasn't Alex without her wings and tail, she was… was… This can't be happening.

She tried to twist around to look behind her hoping that she was wrong when she saw something flicker. She stopped and looked around. Suddenly her arm started to go numb. She looked down at it and gave a start when it started to fade into nothing. She looked at both hands, they were disappearing- she was disappearing.

This is a dream… she thought. Just a dream, this isn't really happening, she reassured herself though a feeling was telling her otherwise.

Before she was completely gone into nothing the darkness around her started to close in, it was impossible to actually see but the claustrophobic feeling kicked in. Walls closing in, can't move, can't think, can't… breathe…

Alex woke with a gasp to find she really couldn't breathe and her arm was numb. Wrestling with the cocoon of blankets she finally pulled the cover off her head and breathed in. She sat up and looked around; it was still her little section of a bedroom-type-place so it had only been a dream. Just to be sure though she brought her tail around and gave a sigh of relief to see the double ax blades. She flexed her wings and cringed at the pins and needles.

Aw pain, the only way to tell if you're truly alive… Alex thought as she leaned back lightly moving her wings to get the blood back in them after sleeping on them wrong. Next came her arm as it slowly got some feeling back in it, she could feel the rush of blood going through the veins and was soon followed by the pins and needles like a small scolding for sleeping on it.

She was ready to try and fall asleep again when her stomach demanded she get up and feed it.

Crawling out from behind the blanket that acted as a wall Alex stood up still wincing slightly at the needles attacking her wings. Looking around for a moment while she rubbed her eyes she noticed something on the pole that held the blanket-wall up. Pulling the thing down she found it to be a wide black ribbon.

Looking the ribbon over she walked to the kitchen and found Mikey on the couch watching a very specific cartoon; it must be a Saturday. At the table Razor was placing pieces of cereal straight from the box to the round part of a spoon with the handle barely off the table; he slapped a fist down on the handle and sent the cereal flying. As he leaned back in his chair he tried to catch the food in an open mouth, most of the time he missed and the food landed on the floor. Don was also up finishing a big book of crossword puzzles at the table.

"You're making a mess," Don said without looking up.

"I'll clean it up," Razor said as he flung more pieces of cereal into the air. He opened his mouth wide and caught maybe three out of seven pieces.

"Hey guys," Alex said and held up the ribbon. "There any reason I found this?"

Don glanced up. "Mikey thought you needed one."

"One what?" Alex asked though she was sure she knew the answer.

"Dude, you guys are, like, part of the family now, right?" Mikey said looking over as a commercial took over the TV screen.

Alex and Razor looked at each other. Razor shrugged, "He said it not me."

"I guess you could say the whole bandana-thing is like a signature," Don said as he started on the last puzzle in the book.

"And you're the only one without one, ax butt," Razor said pointing to Alex.

"Seaweed head," Alex said as she tied the ribbon around her forehead under her bangs, the ends trailing down her back on either side of her braid.

"Better than being an ax butt," Razor shrugged and launched more breakfast into the air.

"What like a vision?" Razor asked after Alex had pulled him aside a few hours later and explained her dream as they sat on a park bench under the rolling clouds, Razor in his too large clothes without shoes, and Alex with a hood over her head.

Alex nodded. "I don't know how to explain it but…"

"Oh come on Alex, Psych's the only one that's ever got… what'd he call it… premonitions? Yeah, we don't get those things, besides yours makes no sense, you even admitted it," Razor pointed out.

"I know," Alex said. "But it felt so… true. I mean what if my subconscious is trying to tell me something?"

Razor sat there a moment contemplating. Then he finally said "You've been watching too much TV."

"Come on Razor, I'm serious. What if it actually means something?" Alex asked. "You know our life, anything can happen."

Razor sighed. "I don't know Alex," he groaned. "Say that this dream actually is true in some way, think how many meanings a dream can have. There could be symbolism, and all that junk. It's really not something I'm designed to think about."

"It's not something any of us are designed to think about, and yet we have the thoughts to think about it."

Razor rubbed his eyes. "Well since you're probably not going to listen to me…" He stole a glance at Alex; she had on a smile saying he was right. "What do you want to do, go decipher this dream at the book place or something?"

"You mean the library?"

"Yeah whatever that place is called."

"The book place?" Alex repeated with a small laugh.

"Shut up," Razor said as he got to his feet.

Alex stood up beside him. "You know," she said as they started walking. "You're probably going to have to put some shoes on before entering any buildings."

"Not if you keep your mouth shut on the subject, I won't," Razor said. "Besides, why would people be looking at my feet?"

"People have their reasons for what they do," Alex shrugged. "And what they dream," she quickly added.

"You're not going to let this go until you figure out what it means, are you?" Razor asked.

Alex pretended to think about it. "Mmmmm… no."

Razor sighed. "Whatever you say ax butt."

"Seaweed head."

"In the depths of a library, hidden from all the other fish- I mean people stands a fortress so strong that it could withstand a tornado. Oh, but what's this, a river running to fill the moat around the fortress? Where are the crocodiles? Nowhere to be seen, there're nothing but red clouds in the water. And suddenly- _attack of the shark boy!_" Razor exclaimed as he leapt across the table onto the book house he had created.

"Would you stop it before you get us thrown out?" Alex hissed as she looked out from behind a large book that was supposed to explain what dreams meant. She looked at the books that had been tossed everywhere on collision and picked the nearest one up. "The encyclopedia of fish?"

"Know thy food," Razor said as he started to collect the books and stack them on the table to start another fortress. They had been in the library for an hour and a half already. The boy's attention span hadn't lasted longer than a few minutes now he was just waiting for Alex to get done with her 'research' so they could go back to the lair.

Finally after some repeated moaning and groaning, and Alex getting ready to chop her friend's arm off after he started to continuously poke her to get her to leave, they left the library with the book Alex had been reading under her arm.

They went the usual route through the sewers and when they went to the lair Razor went straight to the kitchen. As soon as he got passed the table it hit him. Chocolate. There was a chocolate bar somewhere in the cupboards and he was going to find it, even if it meant completely dumping the cabinets out. No matter how much fun the possibility sounded, though, he found the candy in the first place he looked.

Ignoring the note that clearly stated: Raphael's do _NOT_ touch, Razor started to undo the wrapping. He had just peeled off the top part of paper away from the sweet brown goodness and opened his mouth to stuff it in when a fist smashed down on his head; snapping his mouth shut almost painfully. The blow was so hard that hot tears started to well up in his eyes as the chocolate bar was swiped from his hand. Razor turned just in time to see Raph walking away with the candy.

Grumbling disappointedly Razor pulled out a small plastic bag filled with jawbreakers that he had gotten on the way to the library from his pocket. He pulled out one of the colorful balls and popped it into his mouth as he went to sit down beside Alex, who was sitting upside down on the couch with her head down by the floor, her feet up where the head normally went as she read the borrowed book.

He sat down and crunched down, cracking and breaking the hard candy with one bite. He popped another one in as he flipped the TV on. After the fifth crunch while he watched TV, as Mikey appeared from his room and started doing tricks on the half pipe, Razor threw the sixth jawbreaker in the air and actually caught it in his mouth. He bit down and jumped at the sound of a painful _crack_.

Alex looked at him. "Are you okay?" she asked as she watched the boy press both hands to his mouth while he hopped and kicked in his seat with a pained look.

Razor quickly shook his head in reply.

Alex put her book down and righted herself on the couch. "What's wrong?"

"I think I broke a tooth," Razor said through his hands.

Alex reached forward to pull a hand away. "Let me see." Razor put his hands down and opened his mouth. Alex tried to look over all the teeth when the boy's breath hit her full force. "Oh god!" she exclaimed slapping both hands over her nose. "You smell like rotting fish!"

"That might be the personal anchovy pizza we had on the way to the library," Razor quickly guessed. "Now could you look already I'm in pain here!"

Plugging her nose, Alex looked again. She wasn't quite sure what she was looking for among the sharp mountain range that was stuffed in her friend's mouth. "I don't see anything."

"Righ' 'ere," Razor tried to say as he pointed with his black tongue. There it was; a tooth on the bottom second row had split and was pushing against the ones around it.

"That has to come out," Alex said.

"You think I don't know that?" Razor snapped. "But how?"

Alex leaned back. "Well I'm not sticking my hand in your mouth."

"What happened?" Mikey asked as he rolled over from the half pipe.

"Razor cracked a tooth," Alex said. "I keep telling you that jawbreakers are meant to be sucked on not chewed."

"Well if you notice I don't exactly have the type of tongue to suck on anything," Razor said sticking his thin pointed tongue out.

Alex rolled her eyes and she turned to Mikey. "Mike, would you know where any pliers are?"

Mikey stood there as he thought. "Oh! Donny might have a pair." He left to go ask his brother.

As the two waited Razor held up the bag of jawbreakers and was about to put one in his mouth when Alex smacked him and took the bag away.

Don came out of his room with Mikey and went to the couch with a pair of pliers. "You guys need these because…?"

"We need to pull a tooth out," Alex said and held a hand out.

Don handed the pliers over, but not before asking "Why?"

"Razor cracked a tooth and it needs to come out and I'm not putting my hand in his mouth," Alex explained and turned to the boy. "Okay now open, and keep it open." Razor obeyed and Alex stuck the tool in his mouth clamping it firmly on the split tooth.

"You're not going to clean it?" Don asked.

"He eats fish while they're still swimming in the water, one time he went through sewer water with his mouth open, and he doesn't brush I think the thing that's getting dirty here are the pliers," Alex said and yanked. Razor gave a sound of pain while the tooth held firm in his gums.

"'Ull arer," Razor tried to say.

Alex put her hand on Razor's shoulder and yanked again. Again Razor gave a whine while the tooth stayed where it was. "One more time," Alex said and Razor braced himself. Alex gave a final jerk and the pliers came out, but there was no tooth. Razor gave a whimper as he held his cheek.

"What's going on?" Leo asked noticing his brothers at the couch though the TV wasn't on.

"Razor's tooth broke and we're trying to get it out," Mikey said.

"And it's not coming out without a fight," Alex said.

"Wouldn't it just be best to let it come out by itself?" Leo asked.

Razor shook his head. "This happens a couple times a year, when a tooth gets loose from either use or age the new one starts to grow almost immediately, and it hurts a lot. It's best to just pull it out as soon as possible or else it would just get worse."

"Yeah but this one is stuck good and tight," Alex said, wiping the pliers off on her pants; they were getting dirty anyway.

"Because it wasn't supposed to get loose yet," Razor said.

Alex held up the bag of jawbreakers. "I wonder why it did."

"I have no idea," Razor said innocently, though he was looking at the ceiling when he said it.

"Maybe Raph could get it out," Mikey suggested thinking of the strongest of them all.

"Maybe I could do what?" Raph asked seeming to appear out of nowhere at the mention of his name.

"Pull Razor's tooth," Alex said holding the pliers up.

Raph looked at the boy that had tried to eat his chocolate; pay back. "I guess," he said nonchalantly and took the pliers.

Razor could hear the hidden tone in Raph's voice and he didn't like it, but the guy was strongest and sure to get the tooth out. "Just don't pull the wrong one," he said getting on his knees facing the back of the couch and opened his mouth. Raph looked inside and clamped the cracked tooth between the pliers. Without warning he yanked up and back and the pliers came out, this time holding a sharply pointed tooth, but it didn't quite look right.

As he pressed a hand to his mouth in pain, Razor inspected the site in his mouth with his tongue and gave a groaning whimper.

"There's half the tooth," Don said looking at what Raph had pulled.

Ignoring the blood at the base of it, Alex held her hand out to look at the partial tooth in curiosity; she'd never seen only part of one.

Raph opened and closed the now empty pliers at Razor, "Next half."

* * *

'Ello! Finally got this one done. Yes there's not much here either, but I promise that the next chapter will actually do something for the plot! So don't give up on me now, this story'll get somewhere, I swear. Just might take a little while. As for this chapter: these were just scenes that have been floating around in my head and I thought it would be good to share, so here ya go.

gasp Alex and Razor have a family! Oo Ain't Mikey nice?

Until next time!


	15. Gone

**Chapter Fifteen**

**Gone**

The ninja-in-training jumped back just in time to miss a sword, jumped and flipped backwards grabbing a long poll in the process and pulled it out of the owner's hands.

"Alex!" Don exclaimed whipping around to reclaim his staff, but the girl was too fast as she used it to flip sideways to dodge a sai. She twirled it mockingly ready to jump if Don tried to come at her.

Leo came up with a katana and swung. The attack was blocked by Alex holding up the staff, the blade sank down into the wood from the force.

"Come on Leo, you don't want break you brother's weapon, do you?" Alex asked as they went into a pushing contest, the wood could only last against steel so long. The girl had to jump back, though, before a nunchuck hit her in the head. She pulled the staff back to hit Mickey for the attempted attack, but when she swung forward he staff was gone. After looking at her empty hands dumbfounded, she barely had enough time to jump and fly up to the rafters before Don could whack her over the head.

"That's cheating!" Mickey exclaimed.

"So is ambushing me twice, putting me in four-on-one brawls, and pulling my tail on countless occasions but you don't see me complaining," Alex said from her safe above their heads perch.

"You don't solve anything by running away," Leo said.

"You'd be surprised actually. Our motto: if all else fails turn tail and run," Alex said. "Besides, I didn't run, I jumped and flew."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Alex come down."

"Make me!"

"This is going to be interesting," Razor said as he sat with his unfinished bag of jawbreakers beside Splinter on the sidelines. As he chomped down more carefully on the rock hard candy, he couldn't help but inspect the empty spot in the three rows of teeth he had. The new tooth was already growing sharply upward but he could still explore the empty space with his tongue.

Raph pulled a hand that clutched his sai back across his chest and threw the weapon, immediately after he threw the second one.

Alex managed a Matrix-kind-of-move to dodge both sai without falling. "Ha, missed!"

"If ya would stay still," Raph said grumpily.

"Oh yes" Alex nodded "sitting still while sharp objects are being thrown at me is the most logical pla-ah!" She quickly flipped upside down on the rafter holding on by the legs, while a katana stabbed through the air where she had been no longer than a second ago. "Leo! Not cool!"

Try as he might, Leo couldn't hold back his smile.

Quickly, while the girl was distracted, Raph grabbed Don's bo staff and threw it like a spear. It hit Alex full on in the stomach, reflex causing her to curl up holding her gut and her legs let go of the rafter. Before she could correct herself gravity ruled and she fell. At least she was able to help herself enough to twist in the air and try and land on her feet the drop too sudden to use her wings. On impact with the ground her legs folded and she stopped sprawled on the floor.

"Dog pile!" Mikey exclaimed happily.

"No Mi-!" Alex tried to get up but she wasn't fast enough. "Key…" the last syllable came out as a groan as the turtle landed on top of her, followed quickly by Raph, and Razor leapt up feeling obliged to join in. Don and Leo shook their heads at the pile though Don was smiling.

Splinter also shook his head with a sigh. This girl was serious about wanting to train, she hasn't complained once about the work of training, she had good intentions and everything, but she was just like his sons; responsible and strong when the time came, but was still a child no matter how long she had lived on this Earth.

"Guys get off," Alex gasped feeling her wings and ribs getting crushed. The three on top of her finally stoop up. When Alex stood up herself Razor was the first one she saw. He had an annoying smile that told that he was going to say something Alex didn't want to hear. "Not a word," she said.

"You lost," Razor said anyway, completely ignoring Alex's command. "You can't even win a training battle."

Alex glared at him. She knew perfectly well that she had lost! Instead of saying something back at the boy she swung a hand at him, aiming high, and almost perfectly snatched the bandana off his head without grabbing a handful of hair with the cloth.

Razor put both hands on his head like he was making sure that the bandana Alex was holding was actually his. "Hey!" he exclaimed reaching for it. "Give it back! Alex give it!" he yelled as Alex held him back with one hand, the green bandana in the other just barely out of reach.

"Well if I can't win anything why don't you just take it?" Alex teased; too busy trying to keep the webbed hand from the bandana to notice the spark of actual anger flaring up in Razor's black eyes.

Unable to control himself as his lips parted in a sharp toothed snarl, Razor leapt on Alex, knocking them both to the floor. At first it looked like a simple friendly fight, but it abruptly ended when Razor snapped down where Alex's hand was.

As Alex held a hand up on the floor, making sure she still had all five fingers, Razor realized what he had just done and slowly started backing up in a crouched position, the bandana held in his mouth. Emotions were visibly crossing the boy's face as he tried to figure out whether the attempted bite was his fault or hers. Alex knew not to take the bandana from him, but he should be able to control himself, but she started it, but… but…

Razor shook his head in the mental confusion and stuck to the lab experiments' motto; he ran for it.

"Razor," Alex said getting to her feet, wanting him to stop.

Without even slowing down Razor left the lair.

"Razor!" Alex called and started after him.

When both of them disappeared Mikey stood there a moment before turning to his brothers and asked "What just happened?"

Alex ran down the tunnel, Razor a few yards ahead of him. The shark boy had been practicing running over dry land and it was showing; he was getting fast.

She watched the slit in the back of Razor's shirt as she called his name trying to get him to stop; knowing what would happen if he got to one of the tunnels with water in it. Knowing she didn't have very much time Alex was just about to let her wings out and fly to close the remaining space between them, but before she could Razor leaped out of the tunnel followed by a splash. By the time Alex got to the end of the tunnel – which wasn't that long of a time lapse – Razor was already gone.

…--… …--… …--… …--… …--… …--… …--…

Where are you? Alex thought as she looked through the darkness under her. She had just spent the last two hours scouring the city, knowing that if the boy she was looking for had a choice he would want to get out of the sewers. So he had to be somewhere around here.

She spent most of her searching along the Hudson River, knowing he'd more than likely be by water.

A few minutes later she finally chose to land on a pier, her wings getting tired. "Man…" she muttered running a hand through her hair. "I'm not going to find you out here, am I?"

Alex remained standing there for a while longer, not really sure what to do. Finally she figured she might as well go back to the lair and let Razor come back when he was good and ready. Unfurling her wings she got ready to take off when she heard a soft clink. The sudden sound made her falter for a moment.

The sound came once more. She looked around for the source. There was a third clink and she tracked it to the next pier over.

Ducking behind a stack of boxes Alex looked to see who was so close by. It was a teenager with hands stuffed down his pockets as he kicked a tin can across the boards of the dock until it was pushed over the edge and landed in the water with a plop. Now that his little toy was gone, the teen sat down at the end of the dock with his legs dangling down over the edge.

A quick sad smile crossed Alex's face, though it didn't last long. She found him, but how was she going to talk to him?

…--…

Razor sat down with a sigh after kicking his can into the Hudson. He couldn't believe himself. How could he have tried to bite Alex like that? He could have taken her hand off easily. What was wrong with him?

He hung his head as his legs swung back and forth above the water's surface. Rubbing his eyes with one hand he held the green bandana close to his chest with the other hand. Alex would understand, wouldn't she? She knew why he didn't like being separated from the headwear, so it wasn't entirely his fault that his reaction had happened. So… why did he feel so crappy about it?

With a sigh he dropped his head into his hands, elbows pressed down on his knees.

Why can't I be just another average guy? He thought miserably, remembering seeing that group of teens in front of the mall. Why did I ever have to be created? What's the point of my life?

His hands turned into fists. Why do scientists have to do this? Why create life if this is how we're forced to live it? Why? When there was no answer the boy miserably stood up to walk away, though he looked over his shoulder. In the distance he could see the Statue of Liberty lit up against the night.

"Why do you bastards have to exist?" he said to himself and turned towards the monument. "Why?" he challenged the statue as it stood guard over the hated laboratories. When there was silence in return Razor couldn't take it. He was always ignored, he was always the guinea pig, his thoughts, his opinions, his needs never mattered. "WHHHHHHHY!" he screamed until he had to cough and his throat turned sore. Even then he wanted to yell again as his voice echoed as far as it could against the sound of city night life.

There was an anger growing inside him again. He couldn't exactly find the reason but it was there and it needed attention. Knowing he needed to calm himself down before he did anything extremely stupid, he let out a yell, ran for the end of the dock with dorsal fin already extended, and jumped.

Alex started walking across the boards of the abruptly abandoned dock at the sound of a splash. She guessed it was fine if he vented on his own. Down in the water the worst he could do was either bite himself, or take this random anger out on a piece of trash at the bottom of the river.

She walked to the edge of the dock and looked down at the disappearing ripples. She stood there for a few minutes before flexing her wings and got ready to finally fly off when a buzzing made her freeze. Looking around she found bug-robots seeming to come in from everywhere. She was cornered against the water with nowhere to run, and there were too many robots to maneuver around overhead. It was obvious where she stood that there were too many to fight and win.

Down below Razor broke the water's surface coughing. "Note to self: it _is_ possible to drown with a shirt on." Then he noticed the buzzing and looked around. Crap, that's a lot of machines. "A-Alex!" he exclaimed noticing the girl on the dock, his anger suddenly gone with the appearance of their one-way tickets back to the labs. "Jump!" he commanded gesturing down to him.

Without even a first thought Alex quickly stepped off the dock and fell into the cold river water. She scrambled to break the surface with a gasp not expecting impact of the cold wetness feeling the goose bumps start over her arms, but there was no time for that as Razor grabbed her by the arm.

"Keep your wings and tail in tight, take a deep breath and hold on," Razor instructed. Alex quickly sucked in air before Razor pushed them both under the surface as the robots closed in. The machines didn't waste a second to crash through the water after the two as Razor fought to swim and pull Alex with him with impeccable speed and flexibility. This was his element; he wasn't going to the labs from here. He could have fought, but with Alex and her limited amount of air supplies he needed to find a hiding place.

As the thoughts were going through his head, a swarm of the waterproof robots closed in on them. Alex tried to do her part by kicking though her actions weren't very effective; she wasn't built for water. Razor, on the other hand, could fight just fine. He kicked and clawed at any robot that got near him, his teeth a commonly used weapon to unsure the machines sank to the bottom of the riverbed without returning.

After ripping a robot apart with his mouth he suddenly realized something when he used both hands to dive deeper; he'd let go of Alex! Looking around he found her trying to fight for the surface her lungs probably screaming for oxygen where Razor had an unlimited supply coming in through his sides. Without wasting time he shot upwards to meet her, his body practically sliding through the water particles.

Alex jumped into sweet air coughing and gasping. Before she could hardly get a breath to stay in her lungs though, metal clamps grabbed her ankles and yanked her back under. She kicked frantically trying to get the robots off as they dragged her down deeper, she could feel herself start to choke with no oxygen. When suddenly a shark mouth ripped through one of the robots at her feet, the boy pushed it away in the water and attacked the next one. When her feet were free Razor shoved her up into air as he held the robots off.

Alex looked around. Maybe if she could get into the air it would be better for both of them. But that idea was quickly shot out of the sky when she saw lights against the night up above moving down at her. With a large breath she went back under.

Razor was becoming overwhelmed. There were just too many of the damned things! If there was any chance of both of them coming out of this free and alive it meant that they would have to make a run- or swim for it.

Spotting Alex he went directly for her, ignoring the robots seeming to come from every possible direction. In order for this to work he would have to swim faster than he ever had before. Instead of stopping, he made a collision course with Alex, grabbing her around the middle as he continued forward and angled almost straight down. Using the murkiness of the water for coverage he pulled Alex underneath a nearby dock and pushed them down to where the bottom of the posts stuck into the riverbed. Hiding behind a wood post and a mound of trash he pushed Alex down the rocky floor and position himself just a few inches above her so she didn't drift anywhere. From this spot he put his senses into overdrive; he would be able to detect any kind of movement in a mile radius.

They both had a feeling they were going to have to stay there a while, but Alex's lungs disagreed. As the pair tried to stay perfectly still in the water Alex suddenly jerked, putting her hands to her throat as she jerked again trying to reframe from sucking in water at the stupid attempt to find air.

Razor watched her for a quick moment scrambling to think of a better why to give oxygen without going to the surface. Only one option came to mind and he didn't like it, but he had to do it.

Ignoring the awkwardness of the action, Razor quickly turned Alex over so they were face-to-face, pulled her closer, sucked in as much oxygen as he could from the six slits in his sides, pressed their mouths together and pushed the oxygen from his body to hers. When they parted Alex looked grateful though they wordlessly made a pact to never ever speak of this.

Then slowly, Alex put a hand up between them and started opening and closing it in a fist as she noticed something missing from Razor: -… .- -. -.. .- -. .-

Razor's mouth twisted but he couldn't worry about the bandana now. He held his hand up noticing something missing from her: .-. .. -… -… -- -.

Alex slowly touched her head, the ribbon was gone.

The two floated there stunned for longer than expected as they stared at each other. Though the two objects were simple pieces of cloth they had sentimental value and now they were God knew where. The moment ended and they were reminded of what was going on when Alex jerked again and Razor gave her another breath.

…--… …--… …--… …--… …--… …--… …--…

The robots spent the darkest hours of the night searching the Hudson but the only bodies to be found were ones wearing cement shoes. When the first rays of morning started to light up the sky a ninja crouched on the docks waiting. One of the robots rose out of the water to report the search with nothing but two soaking pieces of cloth in its clamps.

The ninja took the cloth. Though they weren't able to capture the two experiments all was not lost. The Foot would still be able to lure their true enemy out of hiding for the scientists to grab. Yes, all was not lost if they played their cards right.

The ninja left like the shadows retreating from sunlight.

Though the living being left the robots continued to search, the common sense that the girl couldn't have lasted this long underwater escaping their mechanical brains.

…--… …--… …--… …--… …--… …--… …--…

Four dark figures stood atop the building, though in hiding from anything that could catch sight of them they were enjoying the open night, though even fresh air couldn't dampen the feeling of hidden worry. Their two newest friends - and family members according to Mikey - had been gone for a day now. But Alex had disappeared for days before and had come back just fine.

Mikey sat uncomfortably on the mini-roof that covered the door that led to the roof from inside the building, his comic-and-cartoon-filled imagination coming up with endless possibilities of what could be happening to Alex and Razor.

Across the roof Don's thinking was more logical than monsters from the ninth dimension, but not by much. In the life of a mutant almost anything could happen, which did include finding an entire civilization under the sewers, meeting space aliens, fighting demons frozen in casts of stone from ancient time, and much more. Anything, quite literally, could have happened to them.

Raph was sitting on the edge of the building trying to look like he wasn't all that worried but ideas wouldn't stop bugging him. Somehow he just got the idea that whenever he, his brothers, or even Alex start to get comfortable in the word around them something just had to happen. And that thing that happens usually means life threatening events. It seemed like their whole existence was just one big life threatening event.

He shook his head. Wasn't this something Leo should be thinking about instead of him?

In fact Leo was thinking the same thing. He was bout to voice his opinion to the others when he noticed a shadow flicker on the taller roof of the next building over. Staring up at the dark building he was about to dismiss it after not seeing anything when instinct told him it was something. As he quietly thought it over he found three possibilities: one, it had nothing to do with him and his brothers; two, it was Alex trying to sneak up on them like that other time; or three and most likely, it was a Foot Ninja.

Suddenly there was a soft sound of a taught string being let go, something flew through the air fast enough to whistle, and Mikey jumped as something just barely missed his leg and hit the wooden door under him with a dull _thunk._

The sudden shriek that accompanied Mikey's surprise caused Don and Raph to look while Leo was already going over to see what was stuck in the door. Raph stood up and he and Don went to look too as Mikey leaned over the edge of the mini-roof.

It was an arrow, tied to the stick were a green bandana and a piece of paper held down by a black ribbon.

"That's not good," Mikey voiced what they were all thinking, recognizing the ribbon he had given Alex.

Leo pulled the paper off the arrow and unfolded it. He angled the paper to try and catch some light so they could read what was scribbled down:

Dock 13

Midnight

NO WEAPONS

"It's a trap," Don said.

"Thanks fer state'n the obvious," Raph said.

"Don what time is it?" Leo asked.

"You can't be serious," Raph said.

"We have to go get them," Leo said.

"No we don't," Raph said crossing his arms. "That kid is always getting in trouble."

"What's your problem?" Leo asked roughly.

"What's yours? You're willing to walk into an obvious trap. How do we even know they're still alive?" Raph asked.

Outside the argument Don felt sick to know that he had a point. He wouldn't put it past the Foot to go ahead and kill their bait.

"And what if they are?" Leo questioned annoyance plain in his voice.

"They both know how to fight," Raph shrugged.

Mikey jumped down from his spot. "Bro, Alex saved my life. We can at least go check it out, right?"

"Yeah, and besides," Don said taking the note from Leo. "This says no weapons," he held his bo staff out. "I don't see a weapon this is just a stick."

"Yeah, I got chunks of wood," Mikey said. "Leo's carrying around long hunks of metal for some odd reason."

Don swiped one of Raph's sias. "And look at this over sized triple pointed toothpick."

Raph just looked at him with an expression said that he wasn't going to back down as he swiped his weapon back. Don and Mikey looked at Leo for help.

Leo huffed at Raph. "Fine you don't have to go, stay here for all I care." He turned away and said "Come on guys," over his shoulder before jumping off the roof. Don went too and Mikey hesitated a moment looking at Raph hopefully before following the other two when Raph didn't move.

Raph gave a sigh when his brothers were gone. Truthfully he did want to go but he wasn't being taken down by Foot Ninja. Waiting a few seconds he turned and headed to go find Casey as backup over the rooftops. The nutcase might just run into a building yelling and swinging, but at least he always hit something and he always made a great distraction.

It was hard being the tough rebel sometimes, but when his brothers get ambushed he'll be there.

While down below a pair of teens slowly walked down the street, one leaning on the other leaving a wet trail of footsteps behind them as they crossed through alleys.

"Man I feel so waterlogged…" Alex groaned tiredly. During their twenty-six hour stay in the Hudson River they were forced to move at least a hundred times when Razor felt the robots coming too close to where they were hiding. The girl was ready to just curl up and sleep. "Feels good to breathe on my own though."

"Tell me about it," Razor said quietly, still down that he had lost the bandana. He'd never find it, it wasn't fair. Why hadn't he put it on his head?! Trying to push the anger on himself away he cracked a small smile. "I can't believe I had to kiss you every forty seconds for how many hours?"

"Hey I was the one that had to breathe your fishy breath," Alex said. "Just remember, this ne-ver is shared with anyone ever."

Razor gave a lazy nod. "Agreed."

Not feeling like going into the sewers they hobbled and swayed through the city looking for the abandoned warehouse at the corner of Eastman and Laird. They were stopped by a pair of motorcycles.

"Alex, Razor?!" one of the riders exclaimed like the two didn't belong where they stood.

"Yeah?" Razor asked as Alx rubbed on eye with a fist trying to suppress a yawn.

"Leo, Don, and Mickey just went to find you guys," Raph said through his helmet. "They think the Foot have you."

Razor choked on a laugh. How can people go around calling themselves 'the Foot'? His smile disappeared after a moment from the looks he was getting and said simply "It's a trap."

"That's obvious," Alex said. "Even if they did have us." She sighed and pushing back from Razor to stand on her own two feet. "Come on, we better go find and stop them before something bad happens. Where're they headed?"

"Dock thirteen," Raph said ready to hurry up and leave.

Alex stood there a moment not sure if she should be devilishly happy, or wary.

"What is it?" Casey asked.

"The storage unit there…" Alex said quietly. "It was my old place."

"Didn't you say that place was taken over by robots?" Raph remembered.

Alex nodded.

"How…" Razor started slowly. "Did you guys know they had us?"

"You're bandana was tied to an arrow that was shot at us," Raph said.

Alex and Razor shared a look. If the bug-robots were chasing them, and Razor's bandana along with Alex's ribbon had been lost in the river, then how could the Foot get them? Unless…

"We need to hurry," Alex said quickly, flexing her wings to take flight.

"We knew that," Casey said.

"You don't understand," Alex said. "The Foot ninjas might have made a deal with our scientists. If they get their hands on Mike and them…" A shudder ran down her spine.

Razor finished for her, "There might only be one Ninja Turtle left in New York."

* * *

What's this? An update in less than 2 weeks?! Oo

Ooooooooooooooooooooo, don't you just love endings that like that?

...Okay, I don't have much to say but that you'll have to wait to find out what happens next in the next chapter, and that I have nothing else to say. So see ya for now!


	16. Caught

**Chapter Sixteen**

**Caught**

The yelp was kept in by a hand. "Mike, what part of quiet do you not understand?" Don whispered sharply.

"Srry…" Mikey said through the hand over his mouth after accidentally walking backyards into a pile of stacked crates. The stack wobbled but didn't fall. Mickey sighed with relief and turned to follow his brothers to get closer to the thirteenth storage unit when he stepped on a glass bottle. The bottle did not break but rolled causing his foot to go out from under him and he fell back against the crates. The boxes toppled and landed on the ground with a loud crash.

"What was that?" someone's voice sounded.

Leo, Don, and Mikey quickly found hiding places amongst the shadows as a pair of Purple Dragons came to investigate the sound. Find nothing they said something about it being a cat or something and walked away.

"Mikey…" Leo whispered warningly.

"Sorry," Mikey said innocently.

"Just… be quieter," Leo said trying not to get aggravated.

The three continued forward sticking to the shadows, they were careful to avoid detection by the Purple Dragons placed around the docks as guards, the Foot Ninjas placed in their own hiding places. It was an obvious ambush.

When they reached the back of the building of dock thirteen they carefully looked inside a dusty broken window.

There was barely any light inside allowing them to make out two vague figures in the middle of the room tied back-to-back.

"Come on," Leo whispered and led them to the roof of the building, which was covered with trash.

"Geez, was there a war up here or something?" Mikey whispered as they observed boxes, broken glass, torn rags, and chunks of twisted metal that littered the roof of the building along with places in the roof where holes had appeared.

"Careful where you step, and stay low," Leo advised quietly. The three moved forward being cautious as to not step on any broken glass or slip into a hole. He looked around; the best way to get in the building undetected would probably be through one of the roof holes. But which one?

Don tried to figure what they could do with what they had. He realized how stupid it was that they rushed over here without going back to the lair to get at least some supplies or something. But it was going to be midnight any minute, they didn't have much time to begin with, and they've done rescues before and they never needed anything extra, so everything was going to fine… right?

Mikey stayed crouched down not sure what he was looking for, but he wanted to get inside. Why did all the bad things have to happen to the innocent people? In comics, there was always the damsel in distress, same thing in movies, but even he knew where the stories ended and real life began, or where the line was supposed to be.

As he waited, Mikey leaned back and sat down on a lump of something so he could stay still and quiet. As he shifted his weight from his feet to his rump, whatever he was sitting on moved. Jumping forward he turned around to look at what he had sat on. His seat grew a pair of wings and two beams of light blinked on from the front. The wings beat until they gave off a buzzing and the robot lifted into the air. Not good.

Mikey stumbled back and pulled his nunchucks out ready to fight the thing off waiting to see what weapon this one carried.

Leo and Don heard the buzzing and the sound of their brother's feet noisily moving through the trash on the roof. Did Mikey have a problem with the word quiet or something? Before they could turn to look the sound of buzzing suddenly multiplied until it was a constant din.

Leo remembered when he found Mike and Alex in the sewers when Alex broke her leg, and right after they first met Razor. He remembered how many robots there were both times. The things seemed to travel in groups. He drew his swords.

Following Leo's action, Don held his Bo staff listening to the buzzing sound trying to figure out how many there could be. The answer was quickly given to him when a cloud of the mechanical bugs rose up from the ground surrounding the building. The three got ready for an attack but none came, not a weapon-to-weapon one anyway.

The robots closed in and a cloud of smoke erupted from them, quickly covering the top of the building in a dark haze.

Don quickly covered his mouth and nose but it was too late. "An Incapacitating agent."

"What?" Leo coughed, already covering his face with an arm.

"Sleep gas!"

"Mikey!" Leo called out to where he last remembered seeing the youngest of the three. "Hold your-" he was about to say 'breath' but was cut off with the sound of something falling against the trash that covered the rooftop. Mikey was already out.

Leo and Don turned to find Mike so they could hurry and get out of there but it was too late for them too. The leader knew they were beat when he saw Don limply fall to his knees and hit the floor. Unable to fight the dullness Leo felt himself start to sway. He tried to force his body to stay awake but it was no use, the gas was too strong and he started falling forward. He stayed awake just long enough to witness himself miss the ground and fall into one of the holes that covered the roof. The last thing he could do was shift himself so that when he hit the ground it wouldn't be head first.

When the body did get to ground level it got a somewhat soft landing by using the sand filled dummies tied together in the middle of the floor.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"Okay, I officially hate motercylces," Razor said as he slid off the seat, stumbled a few steps, and collapsed.

"It wasn't that bad," Casey said.

"We were airborne!" Razor exclaimed.

"What's wrong with being airborne?" Alex asked as she landed, folding her wings behind her as Raph and Casey hid their motercycles and helmets inside an old looking building for a quick parking spot.

Razor unsteadily got to his feet. "I'm not meant for the air when the landing can end in flames. I don't do fire!"

"Whatever," Alex muttered. "Okay here's the plan. Razor you approach from the water and place this waterproof walkie-talkie right outside a window," she tossed him a walkie-talkie that she had bought in a set of four a few weeks back, though she didn't have a reason at the time. The reason why they had taken so long to get to the docks was because the girl had to go to the lair and get her bag which had the useful toys in it. "Raph and Casey hide these inside, and Casey don't do anything loud until we need a plan B, right now I'm the distraction if anything happens. Now when they're in good hiding spots hide yourselves and try not to get caught. When the walkie-talkies are in position signal me, they should already be on speaker, and go find somewhere to hide. If you happen to hear buzzing; move, fast." With the vague plan laid out Razor jumped in the river while Alex, Raph, and Casey ran through the shadow for dock thirteen.

The closer they got to the destination the slower they had to move. It looked like they had quite a group of enemies waiting for them. Along with Foot Ninja that could be hiding anywhere, Purple Dragons were acting as guards around the abanondoned building, and Alex was able to point out bug-robots waiting to be stepped on scattered across the ground.

When they finally got to the building, unbelievingly unheard, the three split up.

Alex stayed low to the ground as she crept along the back wall of the building. Going behind a small stack of boxes she looked up the wall. There was a window on the second story missing most of the glass. It was a perfect entrance but almost impossible to get to for those that couldn't fly. Luckily she could.

Opening her wings she was about to beat down when a noise made her freeze. Footsteps were coming her way, there were two sets. By the pace the owners were making she guessed she wasn't caught.

She waited impatiantly for them to pass but they didn't instead they sat down on the boxes she was hiding behind.

"This is so boring…" one of them complained.

Alex's tail twitched at the voice, she knew that voice. It was the leader that ran off when she first met Casey! In a thought for revenge she slowly stood up behind them, tail noiselessly getting ready to strike when a shadow too big to be natural appeared as the owner was about to turn the corner.

Hun walked around the building and the two Purple Dragons jumped to their feet so they wouldn't be caught slacking off.

As the moving wall walked by a shadow slipped into the window above. Alex hesitated a moment in the darkness. She still wanted blood from that guy but she couldn't fight now and make a scene. She had to keep her cool.

She pulled herself inside and quietly crouched down behind a railing on the ledge that acted as a second floor. She looked down onto the main floor. In the middle of the floor was a camping lantern that only gave off enough light to iluminate four support beams. Three of which had an unconcious body tied to them with chains. Just out of reach of the poor light Alex could barely make out a row of lumps on the floor standing guard of the building's insides.

Yep, the scientists are in on this… she thought.

Looking to the side she found a familiar space where the walkway had fallen some years back leaving a large gap. Down under the gap on the floor was a mound of old dusty blankets. She knew that behind the mound was a small empty space that she could hide in.

After carefully looking for anything that could remotely resemble a human form she cautiously went to the ledge and dropped down with her wings out to slow and quiet the fall.

Now inside the space between blanket and wall Alex settled down and looked up. Two cracked mirros had been glued to the bottom of the walkway so she could see behind her, and if she was careful she could catch a peek through the blankets for a better view if need be. Now all there was to do was wait.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Da da… da da… da da… da da da da da DAHH!

Razor chuckled underwater which was just a few bubbles trailing out of his mouth. He loved the Jaws theme song. He loved the whole movie, but especially the theme song. It was so simple, and everyone knew that it was meant to make people nervous about sharks.

The boy shook his head after realizing that he was smiling like an idiot, and swimming from side to side like a drunken fish. He was supposed to be doing something, not swimming idly!

Since he had forgot to count the numer of docks he had passed he decided to carefully look out of the water.

Breaking the surface with his head he looked around to find the water level too low to see anything. Reaching up he grabbed onto the dock before him and slowly lifted himself up so he could see over the wood. Up on the storage building on shore he found the number fifteen.

Oops… he thought and slid back down into the water. Going back the way he had come Razor passed a dock and stopped at the next one. Looking over the pier like the last time he found the building that was long over due for demolition.

Slowly, trying to slide out of the water with as little sound as possible, he cralwed onto the dock. Staying as low as he could he awkwardly moved forward on hands and feet like a lanky, slimey swamp creature coming out of the depths onto unfamiliar territory.

Razor rolled his eyes, he had to stop watching monster movies.

Creeping forward he felt his senses go through the roof like a rocket. All of a sudden he could feel every grain of wood under his hands and feet, could hear every wave and ripple of the river behind him; hear the very air moving where a breeze blew, found the individual smell of people close by, could taste the water in the air, details around him popped out in painful sharpness. A wary feeling overtook him as he silently scrambled forward through the open space on the dock. Knowing that whoever was guarding the place had sharp objects and that he had left his shirt with the motercycles so he could breathe more freely in the water, the deep fear of getting stabbed in the gills brought itself to his full attention. He could almost feel the cold metal jamming itself into the six slits on his sides, an imaginary ache had already started like a prolouge to what would come.

A small whine escaped him as he put the hand not holding the wakie-talkie to his side.

Out of nowhere his ear jerked at the sound of footsteps coming towards the dock. Rushed to find a place to hide he shoved the walkie-talkie in a pants pocket and almost fell as he grabbed the side of the pier and hung there to stay out of sight. So that didn't happen again he dropped down into the water and swam up to the shore. Here the riverbed sloped up with rocks, mud, and trash until it abruptly went straight up with a wall of concrete.

Hiding in the shadows he looked up over the ground. It didn't seem like anyone was watching and he climbed up staying in the crouched position. He hurried to the building and ducked behind a pile of boxes to pull his dorsil fin into his back before anyone saw it and before it dried. Being extra cautious he slowly slinked against the wall until he found a good enough window partly concealed by a pile of twisted and broken metal.

After setting the toy under the windowsill on a box he pushed the talk button and said very quietly "Razor: done." Then he quickly backed up and hurridly started heading for the water, abandoning all caution and went for the Hudson at a run. He was meant for underwater sabotage which meant going at underwater electronics and destroying it with his teeth where no one was around to catch him, not slinking around on dry land surrounded by numerous people with sharp objects, and he was starting to miss his shirt for the sake of his gills.

He was about to jump to sweet wet safty when a red alert flashed in his head. Before he could react, though, something large grabbed him by the back of the neck with a strong grip. He tried to jerk free, to twist around to she could bite down on whatever had him. But that plan was shot down when a cloth seemed to appear out of nowhere and fill his mouth as it was roughly tied behind his head. He could bite through cement, tear through metal, but cloth was somehow always more challenging since it was so flexible when it wasn't taught.

He was about to reach up and rip the gag off but his arms were grabbed and yanked behind his back and were handcuffed there so tightly the metal cut into the bone.

One word went through his mind as he pointlessly struggled: crap.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

It didn't take long for Raph and Casey to get in the building though Raph was already getting tired of watching over Casey to make sure he didn't run into anything or do anything to actract attention to themselves. While Casey had to hold Raph back when he saw his three brothers tied up to the support beams.

Casey decided to put his walkie-talkie on the stairs that led up to the second story. Raph stuffed his walkie-talkie behind one of the support beams and was about to break the chains that was sitting right in front of him when suddenly the large double doors that were the actual entrance to the building opened with the sound of rusted gears straining to work.

A line of swears went through Raph's head as he jumped back to quickly find a hiding place.

Two bodies walked in from outside. One big and bulky, the other smaller wearing a long white coat holding a device.

Alex sighed from her spot as she watched from the mirrors. She was expecting Hun but not _him_.

"Oh she's here," the smaller man said.

Hun cracked his knuckles as Foot Ninja seemed to flow into the building like liquid.

"We know you're here," the coated man said. "You're cornered, come on out."

Alex took in a deep silent breath before pushing the talk button on the walkie-talkie in her hand and put it up to her mouth. "Not a chance." The reply was echoed in multiple places. The men looked around with frowns trying to place the voice.

"Why don't you give yourself up and end all of this?" the scientist said. "Or we could turn to the drastic measures."

"You can't do that until you know where I am," Alex said. "For all you know I'm on the other side of the city."

"Then how would you know what I'm saying?"

Alex sat there looking for an answer and decided on the well used sentence "I have my ways."

"Maybe we can make a deal?"

"I don't strike deals with scum like you. But I will tell you what's going to happen. You let the turtles go, you forget that I ever existed, leave this place and take every thing here - living and mechanical alike - with you and we move on," Alex said carefully twisting around and looked through the blankets. She was waiting for Razor to sneak into the building and cut through the chains while she distracted then. But then she realized she never actually told him to do anything like that. She hit the walkie-talkie against her head.

This is such a poorly made plan… she thought knowing from here it would mostly be luck and winging it. Not exactly something you wanted when the enemy had seemingly countless men, and robots and who knew what else. God… she pleaded in her mind. Let us come out of this fine, please?

Watching through the blankets she saw that one of the Foot Ninja had located one of the hidden walkie-talkies. Hun ordered them to search the place.

The other man sighed as he brandished a remote. "I didn't want to do this, but I can't exactly give up on what I've worked with my whole life." He pushed the button on the remote and all the robots in the building came to life. Some flew up into the air, some put out legs and started crawling around as they searched.

Alex tried not to move so she wouldn't give herself away.

A few moments later five robots were thrown over the railing with large bents in their bodies and hit the ground where they sputtered sparks and died. More sparks were made near a wall on the ground floor as fighting began. But soon after there was the sound of gas being let out with a hiss, and after a moment the unconscious bodies of Raph and Casey were dragged to the middle of the room and dropped.

God, Alex thought squeezing her eyes shut, feeling her heart thump against her chest. I hate you.

The scientist waited but when no response came from anywhere in the building he said "Perhaps this will persuade you."

Alex forced herself to open her eyes though she just knew that she didn't want to see what he had in mind as 'persuasive'. Peeking over the blankets she knew she was defeated.

Dragged in by bound arms, between two Purple Dragons, was Razor with a gag tied around his head. The scientist pushed a button on his remote and a pair of bug-robots flew over to the still conscious captive. Each robot produced a tazor rod, ends crackling with electricity. Razor yanked and jerked to get away from the torture weapons but he couldn't escape the grips on him. The rods stabbed him in the bare chest and Alex squeezed her eyes shut, her friend's muffled scream striking her like a physical blow.

The robots pulled away and Razor's legs buckled while the hands on his arms held him up.

The two in control waited for a response, when still nothing came the scientist nodded to Hun. Hun signaled to a Foot Ninja. The indicated ninja drew a katana and stepped towards Razor.

Alex pressed her mouth into a line and dropped the walkie-talkie. "Wait," she called out and stepped out from her hiding spot.

"And it shows itself," the scientist said.

Alex held her hands up as she carefully stepped forward. "Let them go," she said. "I'll come without a fight, just leave everyone else out of this."

"An intriguing offer," the scientist said. "But no." As the words left his mouth a pair of Foot Ninja appeared at her sides and held her firm.

Alex yanked and jerked but she wasn't going to be let go. From across the room Razor caught and held her eyes before hanging his head in dispair. Alex moved her gaze to the scientist with as much hate as mutantly possible.

Ignoring her, the scientist turned away with the simple comment "I don't make deals with property,".

Alex got ready to do anything to get out of the grip holding her to cut the man's head off, but before she could do anything a loud buzzing came from the side quickly getting louder. A rod hit her in the temple and electricity exploded throughout her body, destroying every thought, slicing through every nerve with as much agony as possible in electrocution until there was nothing left to feel and she started falling. The lights around her disappeared and the remaining shadows collapsed.

* * *

OMG! I might actually be getting somewhere in the plot! And this is what happens when you put a nutcase, a hothead, and two soldiers that can't successfully cheat at chess in charge of a rescue mission.

Wow, I finished this chapter faster than I thought. Anyway this chapter might not have turned out as well as I wanted it to so tell me what you think. I'm the writer so I know everything there is to know about what's going so I could use some thoughts in the POV of the reader.

Okay, I can't exactly say when the next chapter will be and I'm not going to try an update schedule becuase I know I'm not going to stick to it so you guys will just have to check back every now and then, though I know most of you have probably already been doing that.

Thanks for reading this far!


	17. The Labs

**Chapter Seventeen**

**The Labs**

Once again, Alex found it amazing how well the body could pick up what it did not want to feel. The very first thing she felt was a cold hardness pressing up on her body and that itself raised a million red flags in her mind. An old routine started to play through her mind: keep eyes closed, breathe slowly, don't move, relax, and figure out the state of your body.

As she checked her body there didn't seem to be much pain except for a throbbing in her temple and an electrical buzz playing through her mind, other than that everything seemed fine. Then a bright glowing flag rose above the rest in her mind; the cold metal was on her front. That was different than all the other times she was strapped to an operation table, usually she was on her back. Now she wanted to figure out what was going on but she knew she had to keep her look up for safety.

"You can stop acting," an agonizing familiar voice from years ago said. "I know you're awake, there's no hiding your consciousness when we can monitor your brain activity."

Alex sighed. "Ambrose Luben…" she muttered, hate weighing on every syllable.

"Oh you remember my name, I'm flattered."

"You're lying," Alex said as she opened her eyes to look around. The wall she was looking at was lined with lab equipment of various kinds. Above one certain piece of machinery a holographic screen hovered in the air showing her vital signs: heartbeat, brain activity, body temperature, respiration rate… Looking up she found her wrist held down by a tightly fitted metal band near the top of the table. It was the same for her other wrist, when she tried to move her legs she found two more bands around her ankles. Unless she wanted to leave without hands or feet, she was stuck.

"Oh well," Ambrose said. The scientist was to the left as she continued looking right, refusing to even grace the so-called-man with her range of vision. "As long as you know who you-"

"I belong to no one," Alex cut him off. A hand rested on the back of her neck. She tried to jerk away, tugging on her left arm and felt the metal cut into her skin. She breathed in sharply at the sudden pain; the bindings had a sharp edge. Even if she was able to pull her hand through the bands it would result in some deep cuts.

"Oh but you do," Ambrose said, his grip tightening on her neck. "And since none of the others want you, you belong solely to me - your creator."

"Your may have created me, but you don't own me."

"I own you in more ways than you like to believe, and you know it."

Alex just laid there suddenly hating every human part that made her up. Then, just to make things worse, Ambrose went into detail with the fact.

"Not only did I give you life, I gave you everything personally." The hand left her neck and roughly grabbed her head. "These are _my _thoughts, my urge to do whatever the hell I want when I want." A sharp point nicked her on the arm she wasn't looking at. She didn't need to see it to feel the warm liquid run down her skin. "This is _my_ blood, _my _DNA. I didn't only create you but you are me in a sense, therefore I'm the original so in all logic I own you no matter what you say." Before Alex could even open her mouth to say something in protest the creator crossed the line. "You even named yourself after me."

"I would never give you the privilege," Alex said trying to keep her cool. He wasn't going to provoke her that easily.

"But you already have. You labeled yourself Ambrose Luben Experiment X, or abbreviated: A-L-E-X." The hand left Alex's head and the scientist walked around the table the girl was strapped to and stood in her vision. She hated every existing molecule of the man, but she had to admit that he was right, she was his personal clone. But she couldn't let him win with her silence.

"I'm not you, and you don't own me," she spat. "We look nothing alike- we're not even the same gender. And I'm better than you, I can fly, I have a twenty-four seven weapon, things you'll never have."

Ambrose put his hands in his lab coat pockets. "Yes," he said and Alex grew a smile. "But that can be changed." The smile disappeared as a small cart was pushed into Alex's vision by the human brick wall. "I believe you two have met," Ambrose said indicating Hun. The big guy picked up a surgical saw.

Alex forced her mouth to work, the feeling of what the saw was for weighing her tongue down. "You can't hurt me; wouldn't you technically be hurting yourself?"

"I call it disciplining my inner child, besides," Ambrose stepped aside. "I'm not the one that's going to do it."

Hun gave a dark smile as he stepped forward with the circular blade running in a blur.

"You're not going to knock me out?" Alex tried to sound harsh but the nervous fear in her voice made itself known.

"No," Ambrose answered. "I want you to be fully aware of the whole thing."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Razor commenced the routine of fake unconsciousness as he checked his body for anything worth being noted. His chest ached and he could feel a soft buzzing in the back of his head. An ache also came from both arms as he realized they were raised above his head. He noticed his hands were stiff- no, not stiff they just couldn't move with the fingers forcefully spread as far as they could go. The same was with his feet, all eight toes spread by something and he couldn't move them.

His heart started pounding, he knew this position.

Cracking an eye open he found himself looking down at his bare grey chest as his head hung down. Looking farther towards the floor he found his feet from the ankle down incased in a bulky machinery. He looked up and found his hands up above his head also incased in machinery from the wrist up. The machinery was connected to the high ceiling. Beside the base of the machines was a smooth semisphere stuck to the ceiling. As he moved his head he felt the leather straps against his cheeks. He tried to move his jaw and found the muzzle restraining his mouth from opening very wide.

Looking at his surroundings he found a completely white room, no door, no vent, nothing but white. The only color was high up on the wall he was facing where there was a darkly tinted window. He could just barely make out the figures of a few people on the other side of the glass.

Around him he could feel the moisture in the air start to lessen until almost none was left, and then the air itself slowly started to thin. His breathing became labored as he strived to find the normal amount of air his lungs were used to.

This was all familiar and he looked up at the window shaking his head with pleading eyes. "No…" he whispered. "Please… no…"

The semisphere above his head opened up and a large robotic arm was lowered down. At the end of the arm was a ball of smaller arms. The arms slowly unfolded and reached out like an upside down metallic tree, each branch ending in either a sharp blade or a tazor rod.

Razor tried to yank his hands free to get away from the thing but his hands weren't going to move as the small robotic arms reached out for him. Suddenly the machines holding his hands and feet still started to hum and slowly vibrate as he felt small needles lightly scratch across the skin, gently going over the palm and fingers until they found the extra skin used as webbing between the digits.

"Please…" he tried again, the fear of what was to come overpowering the hate of his begging voice. He already knew pleading was useless and tried to brace himself for the sentence of running away though nothing could ever fully prepare him for it.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

A small boy wrenched in his sleep. He shifted uncomfortably as feelings that weren't his own passed through him: anxiety, fear, hate, wondering why and finally pain - so much bloody pain. Suddenly screams of agony stabbed his mind and he gave a sound caught between a cry and a groan as he shifted again trying to selfishly block the feeling out and dive back down into the numb darkness.

Throughout the large room the others looked at the pile of blankets at the sudden sound. They could only wonder what was going through the old mind.

After a moment their attention was reverted back to the few things to do. The most energetic went back to pointless games and small challenges amongst each other to pass the time. Some others continued to stare out the large window that took up an entire wall. There was nothing to see except the few fish that happened to pass by but they didn't need much to look at, they were contempt with their imagination of the world outside, these the ones that still held onto their imaginations, while most of the room's population just went back to sleep.

Then, out of nowhere, a section of the wall to the right of the window slid away to show a shaft that sharply sloped upward, from inside there was the sound of something sliding down.

The ones not lost in dreamless darkness or hopeless fantasies looked at the hole, waiting to see what would fall out this time. Through their entire existences they had seen many things come and go from the room, but none of them were expecting what entered their metal-walled dwelling.

Two humanoids slid onto the floor landing in a heap. This arrival was quite odd and since the inhabitants found oddness and change usually dangerous for their health they decided to keep their distance. But inside every group there's always the curious one and the protector of the curious one.

...--...

Raph shifted and pushed out from under Leo with the feeling that something was missing.

Leo shook his head from landing on it and looked around. There wasn't much he could see, wherever they were he could feel the presence of many. One of the walls he could see was nothing but a large window and the outside appeared to be water. In front of the window was a mound of what might have been blankets while figures of ranged sizes sat looking out the glass appearing to not have noticed the two turtles now in their presence.

"Arg, my head," Raph said sluggishly still drowsy from the knockout gas, rubbing his head he found what was missing. "Hey my bandana!" he exclaimed and put hand to his waist. "My weapons! This ain't right!"

"Sh," Leo said sharply not sure whether or not this place was safe. But whoever was inside the room didn't seem to have much interest in them, if any at all.

When suddenly he heard the sound of small footsteps coming forward and a soft light glowed out from somewhere. Looking at the light Raph and Leo watched as a small girl of maybe six come towards them. She had long blond hair and was wearing a white T-shirt that was too big with a matching pair of shorts, a look of innocence covering her small features. But there was on odd thing about her; the light they were seeing her by seemed to be coming from her arms - the skin was actually glowing. The girl walked right up to them and said "Hi, my name's Eli. Do you have one?"

"I'm Leonardo and this is my brother Raphael," Leo introduced them and asked "Where are we?"

"You don't know?" Eli asked he had asked the difference between black and white.

"If we knew we wouldn't ask," Raph said roughly.

"Raph," Leo said sharply.

"What?' Raph asked challengingly.

"You're not where you belong," a rough boy's voice said. "That's where." When the two brothers looked for who had talked they found a dark skinned boy of thirteen with shaggy black hair standing behind Eli wearing a black pair of overalls with no shirt on. His mutation was obvious with four arms, the upper pair of hands clenched in fists as the bottom pair of hands rested on Eli's shoulders protectively. His dark eyes fixed in a threatening staring contest with Raph.

"Oh don't be so hard on them Bomber," another voice said from behind them. Leo turned around but didn't see anything other than the wall. "Up here, Leon."

"Call me Leo," the turtle said as he looked up and saw a boy around sixteen with green skin and hair and blue-grey eyes was somehow crouching sideways on the wall. Waving behind him was a long skinny tail that ended in a demonic point. Suddenly his cheeks puffed out with the sound of holding back vomit. He swallowed hard and stuck out a long sticky tongue. "Ugh… that last fly ain't agree'n with me." Shaking his head the boy climbed down the wall upside down and somehow unstuck his feet. The lanky and flexible body allowed him to flip forward with his hands still on the wall and land on the floor, hands coming off the wall with a soft sound expected from a suction cup. He held out a four fingered hand with webbing between the fingers. Leo took it. "Hi, name's Gorf, heh its frog backwards get it?"

"Yes, you think you're so clever," Bomber sneered, breaking eye contact with Raph to glare at the frog-boy.

"Yes I do, actually," Gorf said sticking his chin out with a smile.

"Teh," Bomber hissed and picked Eli up. "Come on Eli," he said and started walking away with the girl on his muscular shoulders.

Eli twisted her top half around and cheerfully held up a hand. "Bye," she said as the glow from her arms died down until it went out completely.

"Don't mind him," Gorf said from the shadow that covered them once again. "Explosive specialists, they're either crazy or overly protective of a select few. But can't really blame him, Eli is actually an innocent girl and hasn't been taken to the mutation vats; she was made only a year and a half ago. Way after _she_ left." He said the word like he was unsure if he was respectful or scornful.

Then suddenly a muffled cry sounded as the mound of blankets in the corner jerked sharply.

"Excuse me," Gorf said and quickly went over to the blankets. Raph and Leo watched as he crouched down next to the pile and lifted up a few covers quietly whispering something. After a few moments he pulled a body from the blankets. The two walked back to the new comers, one barely half the size of the other. As they went, out of nowhere, Gorf said "Are you crazy? Yeah but… I know but do you want to blind us all?" he sighed "whatever you say." He walked forward and went to the wall feeling around until he found a bar. "Hey um… Raph, right? Yeah you looked strong. Help me a moment, would ya?"

Raph reluctantly stood up and went to the direction of the voice. Gorf told him what he was doing and he felt along the wall for the bar. Together the two pulled the bar out and up, as the switch was put up lights seemed to appear out of nowhere destroying the dark shadows. Cries of surprise and even some pain exploded in the air as the shocking brightness caught every being off guard, jerking the ones asleep awake and pulling the ones in daydreams back to reality.

Through the quick change from dark to light there were a few smiles, including Eli who was in a corner playing a hand game with Bomber. After spots and the stinging feeling were rubbed from eyes the yelling started echoing through the large room that could have been at least five stories tall. Eli's mouth quickly twisted in pain at the rise in volume as she pressed her hands to her overly sensitive ears. Bomber scowled at her pain and pulled her close with two hands, the other pair pushing against her hands to further protect her ears.

"QUUIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!" he bellowed, his rough voice becoming amazingly deep as it drowned out all others with the demand for obedience. Noise slowly ceased until there was barely a sound to be heard.

As even Gorf blinked tears from his eyes Raph looked around the room. There were hundreds of them. Some scattered on the floor, some able to defy gravity and stick to the wall, some hiding in small alcoves dotting the three plain walls, hammocks hung from the walls and ceiling alike, poles that ran from wall to wall at various distances from the ground acted as seats with inhabitants both sitting and hanging upside down. Almost all of them had odd things that pointed them out as mutants: an unnatural skin color, obvious physical differences including wings, tails, extra limbs… some even had tentacles growing from their backs. There were a few that didn't have anything obvious but there was just a feeling that they weren't actual humans, but science experiments. One thing that was noticed was that there wasn't a single adult among them. The oldest one among them that could be seen was probably eighteen.

Raph thought a moment, that wasn't right. Alex was technically twenty-five, she only looked fourteen. The same must go with all the others. It was impossible to tell how long they have existed.

As Raph looked around Leo was looking at the one Gorf had pulled from the blankets before the lights had turned on. It was a small boy in a long grey shirt that reached his knees and a pair of jeans that had been crudely cut at the bottom so they were the correct length, a large black and red scarf was wrapped around his face covering the mouth and nose, the tail of it trailing down his back wide enough to act like a cape. Sleep still clung to the small body as the arms hung loose at his sides, the skin underneath the eyes were a dark color like he hadn't slept in months. The tangled black bed head sitting atop his head seemed to stick out in every direction as he tiredly pushed the bangs out of his eyes. Those eyes, pale grey ones that told they had seen far more than the five-year-old body could show.

The boy looked up and down Leo like a leader examining the new recruit. After a moment he looked over at Gorf. The two looked at each other for a moment before Gorf turned to Leo.

"He says to hold still and relax your mind. And to tell you that most of your questions will be answered shortly."

Questioning how Gorf could know what to say even though the smaller boy hadn't said anything, he sat with legs crossed looking at the boy with wonder.

The boy stepped closer to Leo with eyes lazy like they were still fighting sleep, but inside the gaze was a comforting feeling telling him that nothing bad was going to happen. He lightly placed his hands on Leo's shoulders and leaned forward until their forehead's touched.

Before Leo could wonder what was happening he felt a force gently brush through his minds, dodge through his thoughts like liquid until it hit his memories. Images of the past both ancient and recent flickered through his minds eye forming a type of timeline, a life story. When the memory of him getting knocked out by the gas at the docks passed he felt the force start to back off then flowed through his thoughts like a gentle breeze. Minutes melted together until he lost track of how long he had been sitting there. Then the force going through his mind abruptly disappeared, drawing away so quickly and discreetly that he barely noticed it had left. Realizing his eyes were closed he opened them to find the boy taking a few steps back and practically fell over landing on his bottom with a thump.

The boy rubbed his eyes.

_Le…on…ar…do… _A soft voice rang out slowly testing the name out. Leo looked around for the source but didn't see anything close enough.

_Leonardo Da Vinci…? And… Raphael Sanzio… Interesting names… I must say Leo; you seem to have had a good and interesting enough life up until recently. _

It was then that Leo realized the voice was inside his head.

_I would be envious, but one tends to lose the energy after so long. I guess I'm somewhat glad that Alex still mentions me._

"You… you must be Psych?" Leo asked slowly.

The boy nodded tiredly.

"But Alex said you would look ten."

Psych shrugged. _Ten, five, there's really no difference for someone like me. And anyway, it's been what- ten years since Alex left? Imagination tends to mutate memories into something different over time. At least she still has her imagination._

Outside the conversation Raph sat with crossed arms. Gorf saw the expression of knowing he was missing something and not liking to be excluded in something happening right in front of him.

"Don't take it personally," the frog-boy said tapping Raph on the shoulder with the back of his hand. "Psych's not saying anything of much importance. He can't talk to you until he does the exchange with you."

"Exchange?" Raph asked hiding his wonder behind a grumble.

Gorf crouched down, hands flat on the ground, bouncing energetically on the balls of his feet as he explained. "He learns something about a person by meeting head-to-head for the easiest access to the mind in exchange for a link going from his mind to yours."

"Why doesn't he just speak?" Raph asked.

Psych must have heard the comment as his grey eyes slid over to look at Raph.

"Same reason he wears the scarf," Gorf said.

"Meaning…?" Raph said impatiently.

Psych cleared his throat to get Raph's attention. When he looked at the boy Psych put a hand up to the top of the scarf and slowly pulled it down until his entire face was in view showing the nose and- nothing. Underneath the nose where a mouth was supposed to be was smooth skin. Any that looked at the patch of skin knowing what was supposed to be there got an unsetting feeling.

"He wears the scarf for our benefit," Gorf said. "We've all seen his whole face and none of us like to look."

After a moment Psych replaced the scarf, carefully messing with the top of the fold so it would stay up but still had space so his nose could draw in air without trouble. When he was done with the scarf he turned back to Leo.

_If you don't mind I should exchange with your brother to shed as much light as I can on your problem at the same time. _Without protest from Leo, Psych walked over to Raph.

"Just sit still and relax your mind," Gorf said. "Nothing horrible or anything is gonna happen. He's done the exchange millions of times, literally."

It was the same process that went on with Leo as the boy put both hands on Raph's shoulders and leaned forward until their foreheads touched. A gentle forced weaved around Raph's thoughts until it hit the memories and looked over them forming a timeline, respectfully passing over anything meant to stay in the dark. The life story ended when he passed out from the bug-robot inside the storage unit of dock thirteen. Then the force moved away and calmly flowed through thoughts looking for questions. After a small white the force seemed to suddenly just back off and Raph opened his eyes after realizing they had closed at some point.

Psych stepped back rubbing his eyes and plopped down. _Aw secrets; interesting how it's natural to want to figure them out. _He gave a sigh through the nose. _I'm sorry I can't say much about your brothers. I won't hide anything from you, its too tiring to; I can't be sure where they are since they haven't ended up here. But if I had to guess I'd say one of them is being used for examination and the other… there are a number of possibilities. Though I don't want to hold you back from your loyalty to family I'll just tell you now there's no real way out of here unless you're taken out by a scientist and from there you can only hope to return the same way you left. But there's a small chance of that actually happening._

"Why?" Leo asked.

Psyche held an arm out and indicated the entire room in general. _We're being ignored. We're the old experiments. The scientists are forever moving on to more efficient things. We're soon to be come forgotten leftovers. We can't do much to fight the fact locked up in this room, but this room is also something of a sanctuary. Here we're safe from needles, probes, punishments and electricity. As Alex has already explained it none of us have actually seen the light of day and the world doesn't even know we exist at all so there's no one to miss us once we become nothing but the past. It's not very often the scientists bother us anymore unless they're looking at the past to correct current mistakes or need to set an example. But who knows, _Psych shrugged. _They still might be looking for results in mutations; it's hard to tell what the scientists are planning to do. I refuse to exchange with them and I find it best that they don't know I'm telepathic by not exchanging with them. _The boy pulled in a long breath and gave a hard exhale in a type of yawn. _But I might not have to keep the act up much longer._

"Psych, don't say that," Eli's voice said from across the room. Sayings of agreement rang out from all over.

Psych turned to the room looking at all the experiments that made up the population, and slowly shook his head.

Gorf crawled over to the boy like some odd creature that didn't know how to walk on only two feet, and leaned back to sit on his feet. "Psych you're not dying. You're not going to leave us like that so don't go there."

Raph and Leo shared a look. It appeared that this boy was highly respected of the entire room, like a loved parent or something. Alex said he had been one of the first 'successful ones' so how old was he?

_Two hundred sixty-nine..._

"What?" the two brothers asked in unison looking at the five-year-old body.

Psych looked over his shoulder at them. _Sorry, I have a small tendency to eavesdrop in on thoughts though I try not to. I've lived in existence for two hundred and sixty-nine years but I'm not really counting. Us experiments are meant to last a while, but we're not immortal. Everything has an expiration date. I don't know when mine is, but I know its close._

Leo had to wonder something, knowing Don would be wondering the same if he was there. "How could you have been… created two hundred years ago? That puts the date back in the 1700's, who would have the kind of technology?"

_Humans are very creative creatures; some will strive to accomplish what was thought to be impossible at any means necessary. History tells only of those that have shared their discoveries with the world. Who's to say others haven't already found ways to do the impossible and wanted to selfishly keep their findings to themselves? _Psych gave another odd yawn. _I'm sorry but I don't seem to have much energy anymore these past couple months. I'm going back to sleep. Ask Gorf if you want to know anything, I'm sure he'll come up with some kind of answer and if he's wrong, someone's bound to pipe up and correct him. _The boy turned away and started heading back for the mound of blankets. _You can turn the lights off if you want. It's depressing but everyone seems to like it better dark where they don't have to face their sadly empty existences, and it's easier to sleep in._

Halfway to his corner of blankets Psych stumbled with a sound of pain from his throat as he clutched an arm. Then his body tensed and he quickly looked around the room. His eyes caught a part of the ceiling past the poles that crossed the empty air up above where a square hole had appeared. He quickly pointed a small finger up and an alarmed command rang out to every mind, however it was only meant for one. _Dev, ceiling shaft now!_

Just as the words reached the mind of a certain winged boy that was known for the ability to fall at a ninety degree angle and pull up mere seconds before hitting the ground something suddenly fell out of the shaft in the ceiling. It took a moment for Dev to focus on his target and found a falling body. He quickly jumped off his perch on a pole near the top of the room and shot straight down as fast as he could go, easily missing the other poles. When he could he wrapped his arms around the red and grey target and snapped his dark brown feathered wings out.

A cry of pain escaped from Razor's mouth at the jerk of being caught.

Dev eased them to the ground and laid the beaten body on the floor. Many people surrounded him to get a closer look as Psych pushed passed them. Raph and Leo hurried over from seeing a familiar face, what they saw was hard to look at.

Razor's body was torn apart with bleeding cuts like he had just been shoved through a hall of knives then attacked by possessed can openers. Hands and feet were covered in fine scratches from needles, the webbing between fingers and toes torn and covered in holes. Placed among the wounds were burn marks that dominated any part of him that wasn't bleeding. As dark red blood started to seep onto the floor the boy trembled in pain noticeably trying not to move as his breath came in shallow gasps.

Before anyone could do anything to help him the shaft in the wall slid open and another body came tumbling out. This one rolled across the floor until it stopped face down. It tried to stand up but could only barely get passed hands and knees before collapsing back down trembling also.

The dark blue hair tied back in a braid was hard to mistake, but could it really be…?

Leo stayed with Razor as Raph went over to Alex along with a few others including Gorf, and Bomber who was followed closely by Eli.

Gorf puffed out his cheeks in a burp and swallowed hard at what came up with it.

Alex lay there trying to will herself to get up but couldn't. The entire back of her shirt and the seat of her pants were wet and stained dark with blood. There were rings of deep cuts going around her wrists dying her skin red. On one arm were deep cuts that tilted into each other in a pattern from elbow to wrist. Raph tilted his head to read what was there:

P R O P E R T Y

Gorf twisted around when he noticed something similar cut and sliced into the other arm. It looked like:

A/L/E/X

Despite the blood loss and all the pain Alex forced herself to get to her hands and knees, breath coming in short tearless sobs.

Then suddenly the lights cut out and a large section of the wall opposite of the large window pulled away to show a very large screen. The screen lit up with the words 'COST OF ATTEMPTED ESCAPE' written across it. After everyone had read it the words faded away and the screen went to a picture of a pair of amputated black bat wings nailed to a wall, and a black leathery tail with double ax blades at the end hung under the wings, blood still dripping down the wall where the parts were supposed to connect to a body.

Except for hurting, surprised, and revolted gasps silence reigned.

Alex tore her eyes from the screen as tears finally started to well up and she hung her head, water droplets hitting the floor between her hands.

* * *

Man I am so mean to my own characters...

So here's an example of the labs, not exactly a fun place. No where near actually. I hope you guys have the idea how sucky the labs are and why Alex didn't want to go back. Well she made it inside, but not exactly the way she had expected.

Oh where oh where could Don and Mikey be? What about Casey? you'll find out sooner or later 'evil grin'

Anyway, I finished this chapter sooner than I thought I would. maybe the next one will be soon to, but I can't really say for sure, I've kind of been neglecting my original stories so you guys will have to read the next chapter when it comes out, I'm not going to try and give a promise on a date. though I will try to do it before the end of the month, which gives me plenty of time. So until then...


	18. Leave Us Alone

**Chapter Eighteen**

**Leave Us Alone**

Donatello couldn't remember much and his thinking wasn't coming along very well with the throbbing head. He tried to recall what happened but nothing was really coming to mind. Fighting to remember he was able to recall buzzing - loud buzzing. After a few moments he connected the sound to the cloud of robots he saw while on the roof of the building at dock thirteen. Then he remembered gas - knockout gas, which could explain the headache.

Okay, he thought. I've been unconscious for who knows how long, I'm not really sure where I am, I don't know where anybody is, my head hurts and I know I'm on something cold. What have you gotten yourself into this time?

Opening his eyes to investigate his whereabouts he found confirmation that his situation wasn't good - at all. He was in a good sized room filled to the brim with technology. The machines around him were nothing like he'd ever seen in his life and being the computer geek that he was he couldn't help but gawk with amazement and wonder. There were screens fit into the walls, some running data some showing diagrams, all doing something that he just knew was important for some reason. Flashing lights dotted the many of the machines as the faint sound of humming filled the air like a large computer was running.

Don would have been a kid waking up on Christmas Morning if it wasn't for that fact that he was strapped to a metal table, thick metal bands cuffed around his ankles and wrists that were by his sides.

He strained to get the full view of the room and found that he was alone. The door was probably behind him so if someone did come in he wouldn't be able to see who it was.

All he could do now was question. It was obvious that all the machines in the room were centered on him. The fact became more definite when he found a scanner on the ceiling above him, when it turned on a long green light went over him putting spots in his vision when he accidentally was looking at the light as it passed over his eyes.

As he lay there unable to move, the questions went through his head. Where am I exactly? Who's doing this? How long am I going to be alone in the room? How long am I going to be on this table? Where're my brothers, Alex, Razor? Has anything happened to them? More importantly: what's going to happen to me?

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Michelangelo woke up with a yawn and rubbed an eye with a fist. Opening both eyes he looked around. He was sitting in the corner of a plain white room. He couldn't see a window, vent, or even a door for that matter.

Standing up to investigate the empty room he had to lean on the wall for a moment because of a sudden head rush. He was aware of a headache as he walked around the room. Running a hand along the walls he backed up to the middle of the floor.

"Dude," he thought aloud, suddenly realizing just how close the room resembled a psycho ward. "I know I'm crazy at parties, but not this kind of crazy…"

Looking around at nothing he suddenly had the feeling that he had somehow escaped time, trapped in a kind of nothing. Where am I? he wondered. Where is anyone? What's going on?

As he tried to think of a good enough explanation for where he was his stomach reminded him of more physical matters. He put a hand to his gut leaning against a wall. "Man, I'm hungry. I wonder what time it is." What was it that he read in a comic book where the hero had to survive in unknown territory with little to no supplies? First find food and water. There was no way to get either. Find shelter. No danger here, a good thing too since he didn't seem to have his nunchucks with him. If captured and have little food, sleep to preserve energy. He could do that and it could take his mind off of hunger.

He sank to the floor and tried to fall back asleep. There was no way of telling how long he had been in this room, or much longer he was going to stay, so taking a nap might also be the best way to pass time.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"What's it like?"

Alex barely heard the voice as she stared at the glass on her side using an arm as a pillow. Her back didn't hurt so much anymore but there will always be the ache of losing what made her who she was. And this time it wasn't just a dream. There was no waking up from this one, to find herself back in the sewers where everything was fine - where she was home.

She squeezed her eyes shut. Stop it you idiot, she scolded herself. Suck it up; there are others in a worse position than you, believe it or not. Besides, are you going to let Ambrose break you like this? Well? Are you? Answer me!

"Alex?" the small voice said.

Alex leaned back to see who was talking to her. It was Eli standing there wonderingly. Though the actual kid was created way after Alex had escaped the labs the girl had heard stories. "What?" Alex asked; too busy getting mad at herself that she forgot what the question was.

"What's it like up there? Outside?" Eli asked.

Alex rolled over onto her back and quickly sat up after hitting the sore spots on her shoulder blades and tailbone. She stood up and stuffed her hands in her pockets trying to think how to explain to someone that had never really felt the sun, the cool breezes, to see the stars, the moon, everything there was, what freedom felt like. But she knew better than to sugarcoat it, she remembered trying to find a life while hiding the fact that she was nowhere in any kind of system, that if someone took DNA from her they wouldn't find her but someone completely different, someone of even a different gender. Life wasn't perfect so she just settled on the simple statement "A lot better than this," and walked along the window to Psych's corner.

On top of the blanket mound was a bundle of ripped-then-tied-together-clothes. Some of the males in the room had forfeited their shirts so they could be torn into strips to make some kind of bandages for Razor's shredded body. Most of them felt sorry that it had happened and it was habit to help other experiments when the scientists had given out morbid punishments, while some gave up their clothes from feeling guilty by thinking the shark-boy had died months ago.

Psych sat at the top of the blanket pile, hands softly rested on the sides of Razor's head, eyes closed trying to help Razor sleep while he gently dulled the memories of the mechanical torture chamber that will probably haunt Razor's nightmares for weeks to come.

Alex didn't even need to ask.

_He's doing fine considering the circumstances, _Psych reassured._ Thanks to Doc, the deepest cuts will heal in three days tops as long as nothing too damaging happens in the next few days. You should take it easy too. No major escape plans, even though the wounds have started to scab over doesn't mean you're fine, you've lost a lot of blood, and the scientists are probably expecting a rebellion as soon as possible from you. I wish I could do more for your friends, they seem to be adapting well and the others don't mind them, but I can feel it in the back of their minds the need to escape and the worry for their brothers. Especially Leo, plans have been going through his mind but he doesn't know enough to fully think one up. And he wonders how much his father must be worrying. Heh, 'father' not a word used much around here, is it? _Psych reached behind him and held up two extra bandages that were once a black shirt. _Here, for your arms._

Alex took them and started wrapping the strips of cloth over the words scarred into her limbs.

_You may be branded, but you're not owned Alex, no matter what Ambrose may say. You'll get out of here again, I know you will._

Alex tightened the knot on the bandages with her mouth when she lowered her arm she said "And this time I'm taking everyone with." She turned away to hopefully find something to do, as she walked across the room she heard Psyche simply say

_Anything's possible…_

"Hey Leo," Alex greeted quietly, sitting down beside the big turtle as he watched his brother get into an arm wrestling match with Bomber while they lay on the floor.

"You okay?" Leo asked equally as quiet, giving the girl a sideways glance. They had been in the big room for possibly hours; though it felt like a couple years, and he noticed that she hadn't done anything but sit by that big window after she had been bandaged by a girl that looked seventeen who everyone called Doc. From what he's heard Doc was supposedly the head field doctor and aside from her vast knowledge of medicines her body could create healing juices that could be extracted from her palms, or - if something happened - from spit.

"Not really," Alex answered hugging her arms, shifting her shoulders uncomfortably. "They itch."

"What?"

"My wings," Alex said miserably. "They're not there but I can still feel them. I feel like I can still move my tail too even though I know it's gone." Her hands slowly balled up into tight fists until finally she threw her arms down punching the floor. "I swear if I ever get my hands on those damned…" she shook her head unable to think of a word low enough to address Hun and Ambrose "I'll kill them both. I don't know or care how I do it but I will."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

It had to be admitted that Alex had forgotten just how slow time moved in the labs went when you weren't trying to escape or run from a punishment. It didn't help either that the feeling of complete uselessness and guilt had started to sink in, clogging up her mind when she knew there were bigger things to think about. With a sigh she closed her eyes and wished she could lean against something instead of lying on her stomach like she was.

Sitting against the window Leo sat in miserable thought hating how he knew everything was out of his hands. He felt like he should be doing something - something that would get them closer to finding Mike and Don and closer to going back home, but what he had no idea. As he wallowed in the shared useless feeling that had its hard grip on every person in the room, he watched his brother giving off steam caused from his short fuse that had somehow been cut shorter - if that was even possible.

Even though Bomber usually refused to leave Eli where he couldn't see her, he sadly had a short fuse equal to Raph's and was just as easily provoked into a fight. But not only did the two share tempers, neither was keen at losing, especially to each other. After a stubborn draw from a twenty minute arm wrestling match, a race across the room, a height comparison, and Bomber winning at most amount of limbs, they had finally moved on to an actual fight. Anyone watching knew it wasn't going to end well, and to hide from the violence Eli had somehow been put in the care of Gorf.

Though Bomber would think he had the advantages in the fight Raph was still able to get past his defenses and land a punch right in the face resulting in him getting knocked on his back with a bloody nose. Bomber propped himself up, running a hand under the bleeding nostril. With a scowl he jumped to his feet and ran to land a few blows. Raph was ready for him, easily jumping out of the way and planted a hard kick to the guy's back. Bomber tripped and slid forward on the ground. Raph didn't even try to hold back his chuckle of victory.

Refusing to admit defeat Bomber got back to his feet.

"Bomber, you deal with explosives, you know you can't fight," the frog-boy said as he hung upside down on the wall, hands and feet sprawled out to hold his weight up as he faced the room. He was keeping Eli occupied by playing some game where they made silly and weird faces at each other. Eli was content enough that it was decided to leave the lights on, but they were dimmed considerably by scraps, thing blankets and whatever they could find to stick over the lights, but the girl was always happy to play a game with someone.

"Shut up Gorf!" Bomber yelled. He was just about to rush at Raph yet again when an odd clanking echoed through the air. Everyone stopped for a moment to look for the source.

Leo was first to spot it: something was falling from the ceiling shaft. A couple things actually, and they were hitting a lot of the poles on the way down. The things were watched as they fell to the ground, a few still coming from the shaft. When the first one hit the ground Bomber picked it up to examine. After a moment he quickly dropped it but couldn't close his eyes fast enough as blinding lights exploded all over the room. There were shrieks mixed with swears of surprise and pain. Gorf fell off the wall landing on his head, along with a few others sitting on the poles above who had lost their balance in the sudden brightness. They fell and the lucky ones reflexively reached out and grabbed another pole, the not so lucky ones had an unpleasant landing.

Alex was about to doze off when she was ripped back awake after seeing the illuminated version of her eyelids. Looking around she found an entire room of the temporarily blind as people continued swearing while they rubbed their eyes. About five of the ones usually in the air were on the ground holding body parts moaning at broken bones.

She looked past the people and searched for the source of the sudden change in surroundings when she noticed that a section of one of the walls was missing, it was a doorway that leads to a hall: freedom. First instincts told her to leap up and run for it. She got as far as her feet when she heard a desperate cry.

"Bomber!" It was Eli. She was being unfairly carried under some big man's arm like a small bundle. It wasn't a scientist; this guy was more like the henchman, the muscles of the labs, the ones that actually physically messed with the experiments.

"Eli?!" Bomber exclaimed as he fiercely rubbed at his eyes unable to see a thing.

Alex ran for man, not only as the only one able to see, but as one that didn't want to see anyone headed for the mutation vats. She got to them before the guy made it to the doorway and jumped on his back, working her left arm around his neck she used the right arm to pull back on the left wrist, tightening the choke hold. The man stumbled as he tried to push her off with only one hand, refusing to let go of Eli. He resolved in pushing back against the wall smashing Alex into the metal, paralyzing her for a moment as all three sore spots collided with the solid at the same time.

As she slid to the floor in pain the man turned around and pulled a gun from his belt. Alex looked at the barrel in full hate, watching the finger tighten on the trigger. He wouldn't do it, they wouldn't shoot her. But then again, this guy was just the muscle, what did he care?

Forcing her legs to move Alex jumped up and knocked the wrist away as a gunshot sounded. She quickly moved her feet as the bullet pierced the floor. Not giving him a second chance to pull any kind of trick Alex turned to the side and delivered a massive side kick knocking him right in the gut. He dropped Eli, and Alex kicked again and again knocking him back. Then with a final blow she jumped up and slammed him in the chest with both feet, finally able to break the laws of gravity like a true ninja.

The attack sent the man back out the doorway and into the hallway. Alex was just about to leap after him but the door slammed down and locked, becoming one with the wall again. Alex ran face first into the metal before she could stop herself.

As Alex stood there holding her pulsing nose Eli got up from the floor and ran to safety with tears in her eyes almost knocking Bomber flat as he tried blink back sight while gripping the girl in a four-armed-embrace.

Everyone tried to blink the tears from their eyes, trying to figure out what just happened while Doc went to the ones still groaning on the floor after their fall from the heights. The biggest damage, she confirmed were simple broken bones, maybe a dislocated wing on one of them; they'll be fine. She had shrugged when Leo looked at her questioning her nonchalant attitude of it. "We're built to last," she had commented simply.

It wasn't until Gorf had shaken the headache from his pounding head and looked around in bewilderment that he noticed the corner by the window. He gave a yell that could have been a number of different words rolled into one sound as he actually leapt twenty feet like a frog.

A number of people ran to the corner, including Alex, Raph, Leo, Bomber with Eli in his arms clutching onto his overalls, and Doc. Razor still slept lifelessly on the blankets but the reason for the outburst from Gorf was the fact that Psych lay sprawled facedown on the floor, a crimson puddle spreading around his head. The body wasn't moving.

Doc knelt down and pulled on the small shoulder, leaning Psych back against the wall in a sitting position they saw a good sized gash on the side of his forehead. With the oversized shirt it was near impossible to tell if the chest was rising and falling or staying still.

Not a single breath sounded as Doc checked for a pulse. Everything stopped, even time seemed to stand still as they waited.

_I'll never be able to leave any of you, will I?_

Sighs of relief filled the air at the voice that echoed in everyone's mind.

"Psych don't do that to us!" Gorf exclaimed happily.

_Sorry, I blacked out for a moment. _One of Psyche's cheek muscles twitched behind the scarf in a flinch as he put a hand to the wound. Doc pulled it away and gently rubbed the spot with her palm._ Two of the muscle men came after those flashes. One went for Eli, the other came over here. I tried to stop him as he reached for Razor but I can't do much with such a small body. Bloke cracked my head on the wall good but I stood back up, when he grabbed me again I pressed the idea in his mind that one of the newer experiments had gotten loose and he was needed badly when we touched. He completely forgot about us and left before anyone noticed. It must have drained me and I passed out after that._

Alex turned away happy that Psych was okay, but now determined more than ever to get out of this place. In a place like the labs there was always the possibility that next time won't be so lucky.

Leo followed her. "I thought Psych couldn't talk to others unless he does that exchange-thing."

"Normally he can't," Alex said. "But if there's great need for it he can forcefully shove a thought into someone's mind through physical contact. It's a good last resort, but it takes a lot of energy to do."

"That was a close call, wasn't it?" Leo asked thinking about how the entire room seemed to just freeze.

"Yeah, no one will say it, but those of us old enough know that Psych's not going to last much longer," she said quietly. "He's pretty old. He's been there waiting for all of us the first time we came tumbling out of that shaft. He's usually the first one to talk to a new experiment, he always stands neutral in arguments, and he's always just right there. I don't like to say it, no one would but for all we know another blow to the head like that could be the end of him."

"I know what it would feel like to lose someone like that. I don't know what would happen to me or my bros if something happened to Master Splinter."

Alex sighed, turned to the window, her back still hurting when it was smashed against the wall. She put a hand on the glass. "You know Leo, this window is here to mock us," she said wanting to change the subject of the quick scare. Somehow it was almost impossible to imagine life without the ancient kid. "Just outside the glass is the Hudson River, beyond that is pure freedom. It's right there, staring us in the face, but we can't get to it, we're held back by so many things, including the fact that over half of us can't swim. And outside the world continues to go about its life because we're hidden behind a hologram made to look like plain rock."

Leo put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder. "We'll get out of here Alex. We'll find Mikey and Don, and then we'll go home, its not that far away, you just have to know how to get to it."

Alex gave a half-hearted smile when suddenly the lights cut off. There was the soft sound of metal pulling away and a soft glow illuminated the room. Alex could remember the light from Don's computer screens late at night, but if she were to around there would be a large screen in the middle of the wall. The screen was filled with a close up of the head scientist: Ambrose.

The smile on Alex's face was quickly replaced with an angry scowl as she remained facing the window.

"I see we still have a bit of fight in ourselves," the scientist said.

Alex crossed her arms trying to ignore Ambrose, refusing to so much as grace him with her gaze.

"Interesting how you were so willing to fight for one created twenty-three years _after_ you instead of just running for freedom," Ambrose continued. "Unlike last time, and that time you willingly abandoned not only another of your kind but I believe a close 'friend', how interesting in deed."

Alex clenched her fists but she kept facing the window. She knew he was just trying to provoke her, and it was working. Somehow just simply hearing his voice made her mad, what the voice was saying just added a tank of gasoline to the fire.

"Ignoring me I see, oh well. I have more… entertaining things to do anyway. Looking through the DNA of natural animals that have been mutated by toxic waste, remarkable how they've grown human traits and have done so well without any scientific help. I should test the limits, no?"

Alex whipped around, hands in tight fists wishing she was physically face-to-face with the scientist so she could show him just how dangerous he makes his own creations when he's not hiding behind shackles, lasers, and blades. "Leave them alone!" she yelled at the screen. "They don't have anything to do with any of this! It's my fault they're even here."

Ambrose smiled, showing the same look in his eyes that Alex could sometimes adopt; a look that even Raph showed; the look that said he heard who was speaking but he was still going to do whatever the hell he wanted. Not like the little wingless experiment could do anything to stop him.

"Where're Mike and Don?" Raph demanded angrily.

"Assuming you're talking about the other two like you, they're… somewhere. Not like you should care considering you can't go anywhere. Even if you could you wouldn't be able to do anything."

Raph scowled, trying not to use every swear word he knew, it seemed that this guy took entertainment in the anger of those currently in his control. But so much he wanted to just punch the guy's face in, maybe knock a few teeth out.

"And besides, if I just abandon my search on these new specimens than I would have nothing else to do and would have to resort back to testing the physical and mental limits of what I have already made," Ambrose said like he was trying to decide between the two options.

"Just leave all of us alone!" Alex barked, arms shaking in the need to lash out at something. "Ain't it bad enough you brought us into existence, damn it?! We're not toys at your disposal!"

"I'd watch what you're saying, _Alex_," Ambrose said with an aggravating calm. "There are still a number of things yet to be explored, especially with one that has already had a hands on experience with the world."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Alex challenged. "What more could you do to me?" she asked lowly. "You've taken my wings, my tail, I've never had freedom, I'm not even a real person, what more could you do? Kill me? Yeah go ahead Ambrose, _kill me_!" The last two words echoed in the silent room like a small chant, before dying down into a dead silence.

Up on the screen Ambrose merely smiled smugly like he had gotten what he was expecting. Then the screen blacked out and the wall slid over to hide the large monitor.

Alex hated that last look she got, and she quickly looked around for something to attack. Finally she resulted in turning around and pounded a fist against the wall as hard as she could. A bruise started to form as an explosion of pain erupted from her knuckles and she shook her hand then pressed it between her legs hissing swears under her breath.

"Yes," Doc whispered as she went over to the bad mouthed girl. "Demand your creator kill you and then break your hand on the wall because that is the most logical thing to do when you're pissed off.

Alex forfeited her hand to Doc as Leo looked away shaking his head. This wasn't exactly the best time to completely lose it. That's when he noticed something on the wall. It was the window that Alex had punched; on it was a scratch where her fist had made contact. He looked closer to find that it wasn't a scratch, but a hairline fracture in the glass. Alex had cracked the window. If it breaks…

"…_over half of us can't swim…"_

Not good.

So basically Alex hates her creator's guts.

And here's Mikey and Don. See? Nothing bad's happened... yet 'evil smile' and for you fan girls out there: you can't stop me from doing what I plan to! Muahahahahahahahaha! XD

Anyway, I told you I'd get this chapter done before the end of the month. Once again I have no idea when the next one will be. I'll keep working, just no actual dates.

Oh and I've noticed I haven't done this yet (or I can't remember doing it): No characters of the TMNT universe are mine. This excludes Alex, Razor, and anyone else in the Labs, who of which are totally and completely mine.


	19. My Brother?

**Chapter Nineteen**

**My Brother?**

A strange noise caught Leo's attention and he put a hand to his stomach.

He knew it was a bad time to be thinking about food when he was still trying to figure out how to get away from this giant room, but hey he was hungry. No point in doing anything running on an empty stomach, though he didn't know if the experiments actually ate. Alex and Razor did, but Psych didn't even have a mouth so how could he? For all Leo knew eating was something they could do but didn't _have_ to do.

Gorf must have caught the action as he sat crouched sideways on the window above the turtle. The frog-boy seemed to like being sideways more than upright since he was rarely caught with his feet on the actual floor. "Ya hungry?" he asked bluntly.

Leo nodded.

Gorf nodded in agreement. "Ya, I'm get'n there too. I'd be fine with a few good bugs, but we don't get very many insects 'round here. Well, except for the robotic kind but I can't digest those. Tried once, went in easy enough, pain to come back out though, not to mention that it left the same way it went in." A shudder shook his body. "There's a lesson that only needs to be taught once." He shrugged. "Anyway, I'll go ask when the food's comin'."

He was about to hop off somewhere when a good sized square made itself known to the left of the large window.

Gorf stopped. "Or not."

The square was close to the floor as it quickly jutted out. After a moment it steadily moved forward being pushed by something inside the wall. On it was an array of different foods. Almost anything from sandwiches to fried chicken to pizza to rice to salads and so on, sprinkled around the plates were also different deserts including ice cream, cake, pie, pastries, stacks of cookies and the like.

"Whoa," Leo couldn't help from saying, but after a moment realized no one had so much as moved for the food except for Raph from across the room but Alex, who was near him, held him back by the arm shaking her head.

"Yep," Gorf said, not moving from his spot to go to the long metal table extended from the wall. As the smell of the cooked food floated to those above eyes looked down, some even roused from their dreamless sleeps to examine what was there. But still no one went near it. "That's the only good thing about being here, we get all this food. Its mostly so that if we do happen to go into the general public we don't go gaga over the foods at our disposal and act like starved kids that haven't seen anything edible in years thus attracting unwanted attention."

"So why's…?" Leo started slowly.

"No one going near it?" Gorf finished for him. "Simple, a quarter of it is probably poisoned or has some mutating gene in it to start post-creation mutations without leaving this room. That's happened before, it ain't pretty."

"So how can you tell what's good?" Leo asked.

"PC," Gorf said. "It's not exactly a creative name, unlike mine, but we only have so much to work with when creating names."

"Who's PC?" Leo asked.

"The poison checker."

Just as the words left Gorf's mouth Leo caught sight of a boy maybe thirteen in appearance start climbing down from one of the alcoves that dotted the walls above. He had pale, almost translucent skin, if examined closely a few veins were visible. He had short lilac colored hair. Both his T-shirt and shorts were pure white. In truth he looked like a stereotype human experiment that had taken a few too many test shots.

PC hit the floor in bare feet. Turning to all the food he slowly walked over rubbing an eye with a fist being one of the ones that had just woken up. Before the boy started a routine method of looking over, sniffing, and rarely taste testing the food another kid appeared eagerly.

"Who's that?" Leo asked. It was another boy around thirteen with shaggy brown hair. His nose looked oddly smaller than average, tufts of brown fur grew on the backs of his hands and feet, which were deformed to be another set of hands with rather long palms. To finish off the monkey-look a long, brown furry tail protruded from the back of his pants. The boy hung down from the lowest pole up above by his tail, then swung towards one of the walls and hurriedly climbed down the wall using the many alcoves like scattered platforms. When he was close enough to the ground he energetically jumped down, doing a front flip, then span in hyper circles while balancing on his knuckles, dizzily moving to PC.

"That's DK," Gorf informed. "He gets kind of happy around food. He was special made to take anything that can be chemically put in food, drugs and poisons alike, so PC gives him what everyone else can't eat, which means he usually gets most of the deserts, lucky fur ball…" Gorf added quietly like a kid watching another kid get what he wanted. "When they're done everything else is up for grabs."

PC started going through the foods, DK crouched beside him waiting eagerly to be allowed anything from the table like a pet begging for table scraps. Usually it was simply PC looking over the food with a too well trained eye, able to detect food that had been tampered with. As he went he picked up foods and dropped them to DK, who was now holding a tray. DK followed PC nudging the tray forward on the ground as the poisoned food piled up; occasionally he would pick something up and eat it but as soon as a parcel disappeared more replaced it with PC being so good at his job.

After quickly, but thoroughly, looking over the food, needing to sniff some of the items he was almost done when he reached a bowl of chips. He stood there with crossed arms. The seasoning on them could be innocent, could be deadly it was nearly impossible to tell. He picked the bowl up in pale hands and sniffed. He didn't find anything, but he was still skeptic.

Crouched on the ground DK waited enthusiastically. Chips were one of his many favorite junk foods, especially Doritos. If PC found so much as one chip wrong the entire bowl would be added to the pile of poisoned foods and he was hoping it was.

Raph crossed his arms from across the room watching the pile on the monkey-boy's tray steadily get bigger and bigger. "Don't you ever think this PC-guy is picking more than just the bad stuff?"

Doc, who was standing beside Alex shook her head. "PC wouldn't do that. Everyone knows DK gets more food than he actually needs with all the chemicals the scientists like to lace the food with to 'keep us alert'."

"What if he's wrong?" Raph asked.

"He's too cautious," Doc said calmly. "Though he can usually detect anything bad by either sight or smell there's always something, he gets gut feelings about some foods that would first be considered fine. Sometimes he just adds it to the pile to be on the safe side if DK doesn't have a good sized amount, but in cases like these he resorts to taste testing."

"How could that help?" Raph asked.

"It's not the taste that tells him…" Doc started to say but seemed to not know how to finish the thought. "Um… like times as this. Just watch."

PC shoved a hand into the middle of the bowl where anything that could be sprinkled would probably end up if not on top. Taking a chip from the middle, and then one from the top he popped them both in his mouth. He didn't chew very long, he wouldn't have been able to as his body reacted almost instantly. The throat tightened to prevent swallowing as his pale skin color quickly changed to a toxic green, his reflexes ordering him to spit whatever the chemicals in his mouth were out immediately. He obeyed and the half chewed chips landed on the floor. With a shudder his skin paled back to transparent white and he shoved the whole bowl into DK's hands. DK smiled widely and started to happily munch down.

When PC finished inspecting he quietly said "Nothing else DK", grabbed two apples and a peach from a pile of fruits and walked away. DK pulled his trey of tampered foods away from the table against a wall and started eating.

"Now we go," Alex said and headed for the food.

Most would have expected a feeding frenzy, but instead it was pretty orderly and mild. Most of the ones that looked through the food were filling orders for close friends and themselves, grabbing some armfuls of plates and bowls before leaving to rejoin their group somewhere in the room. The ones that were fending for their selves simply looked for what they wanted grabbed it, and walked away.

Though there was always the problem of the last piece of a certain food left and two people wanted it at the same time. In this case it was a battle of quickness as Bomber and Gorf stood in a stare down over the last slice of cake, Eli waiting patiently at Bomber's side nibbling on a pack of crackers. Bomber's top pair of hands cracked their knuckles threateningly as his bottom pair stayed ready to grab the plate. Gorf stubbornly stood across the table looking the explosive specialist square in the eye waiting for the first move.

"Oh not this again," Doc groaned shaking her head. "These two do this every time. It never fails."

Leo rolled his eyes though he couldn't help a small smile. It was like when Raph and Mikey battled over the last slice of pizza. The smile faded some. Mikey…

Gorf's cheeks slowly started to puff out, Bomber's fingers twitched.

While the two kept their eyes locked on each other a small figure walked right up to the table, grabbed the plate and turned away. On reflex Bomber quickly slammed a hand down on the table and Gorf's tongue lashed out. Psych deftly moved the plate out of Bomber's reach and grabbed Gorf's long sticky tongue before either could touch the cake.

_This happens every day, _Psych's grey eyes slid smoothly from Gorf to Bomber. They didn't show any sign of anger or aggravation, just tiredness. _We're resolving this _now. He let go of the tongue and Gorf sucked it back into his mouth. _Since you two continue to fight over a simple piece of cake we might as well make things fair and take the cake away from both of you. If you can't share then it goes to someone else._

Gorf jumped in front of Psych. "Come on, that's not fair to either of us."

_It's perfectly fair actually. But I guess there's a way that you both can have it. Alex, come here please._

Alex threw the last of a pizza crust in her mouth and went over to the table. Psych grabbed a dull, harmless plastic knife off of the table and handed the plate and knife to Alex. _Two pieces, as equal as you can._

Putting the plate on the table she cut the slice in half.

_There you both get some cake. Now this is going to happen every day unless you two can figure something better out._

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

In his sleep Mikey started smiling. A hand lazily lifted up and reached out to the empty air in front of him. The hand closed and he jerked awake at gripping nothing. He looked at the empty fist with a pout and sighed dropping the hand to his side.

Wiping the drool from the corner of his mouth he slumped down.

"Hungry…" he sighed meekly.

It was impossible to tell how long he had been sitting wherever he was. It was possible he'd been in this room for a few minutes, or possibly a week. Heck, he might as well have been there for a year. There was no way to tell how much time was passing if any at all. But he didn't really care. At the moment the biggest thing he was worried about was his stomach and it was demanding something- anything. And if that giant slice of pizza with those big sunglasses on didn't stop waving at him in the corner he was going to go crazy.

Suddenly a hole appeared from across the room. It was a small rectangle against the floor on the wall. After a second of wondering what it was a tray slid out of it. Mikey smiled happily at the sight of the two slices of pizza on a paper plate beside a small plastic tube lying on its side. Mikey crawled over to the tray, sat down and pulled the food towards him. He gratefully ate the pizza then looked at the tube.

Picking it up he found that there was liquid inside it. A drink? He turned the tube over and over in his hands. There was no obvious way of opening it. He tried pulling on either side of the cylinder; even banged it against the floor but it didn't open or even crack.

Realizing just how thirsty he was he was determined to get the thing open. But how? Maybe it was a twist cap? Gripping one end he tried to twist the other end. It didn't move. He twisted harder but it still didn't move; wrong end maybe? He flipped the tube over and started twisting. When it still didn't show any sign of opening he held the cylinder between his legs and twisted harder. It wasn't until he started hurting his hand that he realized he was twisting right instead of left. He switched hands and twisted left.

"Oh," was all he said as the end twisted open quite easily. After examining the contents he cautiously put the edge to his mouth and leaned back. His taste buds were met with the sweet mix of carbonation and syrup. Pepsi wasn't exactly his favorite but it was still soda!

After downing the drink he put the cylinder back on the tray and looked around. Now that he wasn't hungry any more he had to think of other important matters, like how he still didn't know where he was. But wherever that was at least he was getting fed.

Should I be figuring how to get out of here? He suddenly wondered. Or were you supposed to stay put when you didn't know where you were? But if everyone stayed put then how would anyone get found?

With the questions floating around in his mind Mikey slowly stood up and examined the walls again. Maybe he missed something. If he got in here that meant there was a way out, right?

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"You're not going to get anywhere," Alex said as she sat beside Raph and Bomber. The two were at it again; lying on their stomachs stuck in an arm wrestling match, so far neither of them was winning, there arms still standing straight up. They didn't pay the girl any attention, glaring at each other as they struggled with their opponent's strength.

Alex rolled her eyes and turned away. She lay down on her side, head resting on her arm as the closest thing to a pillow she had. She wanted to think more on possible ways to escape, but her mind started to wander and wouldn't stay on task as she dozed listening to the grunts coming from Raph and Bomber behind her.

As the girl fell asleep the shaft in the wall where all new arrivals came opened up. The sound of something sliding down was already growing louder. Finally a body appeared. Unusually this one didn't come tumbling out and land in a heap, this one landed on his feet, stumbling forward a few steps but remained standing.

The ones paying attention to the new arrival started whispering to the ones near them. What struck them as odd wasn't the fact that the new arrival hadn't fallen over, what was strange was this experiment was familiar. It was a boy that looked around fourteen with pale skin like that of a night person, he had navy blue hair and was looking around with blood red eyes.

Glances went between the new comer to the girl asleep on the floor and back again.

"Alex," Eli said touching Alex's shoulder.

"What?" Alex grunted tiredly.

"I think you have twin."

Alex opened her eyes and sat up. "What?" Eli pointed behind them. Alex looked, rubbed her eyes and looked again. Eli was right, whoever this boy was looked like the exact male version of Alex except that his arms were clear of any scaring.

Alex got to her feet needing to figure this out. She slowly approached this new arrival staying on the cautious side; one could never be too careful with what the scientists created.

The guy faced her looking a little too relaxed to be a new comer straight out of the test tubes, and he had an annoying expression that said he knew something important that no one else did.

For those watching it was strange to see how close they resembled each other. The scientists had never done this before, none of the experiments looked like each other, it was an odd change, and change was rarely a good thing in the labs.

"Who are you?" Alex said standing a few feet away from the boy.

"Who are you?" the boy copied.

"Very funny…" Alex said dryly.

The boy shrugged. "I'm not laughing. I'm Alex."

Alex crossed her arms. "No you're not, I am."

The boy shook his head. "That's not what I've been told."

"Then you've been told wrong. _I_ am Alex, I don't know who you are but you're sure ain't me."

The boy looked the girl up and down as if looking for a reason she disserved the name. When his eyes took in the bandages around her arms he laughed. "When I say 'Alex' I mean Alexander not some acronym."

Alex scowled and clenched her fists. "My name's not an acronym," she spat heatedly. "It's short for-"

"Experiment X?" the boy cut across her. "Yeah I was told about that."

Suddenly Alex decided that she didn't like his guy at all. "That's not my name."

"You can say that as many times as you like, but it doesn't make it true. I was told specifically what your name was, and what mine is. And mine is simply Alex."

"Who told you then?" Alex asked sharply.

'Alexander' smirked. "I really need to say? Well that shows IQ level."

Alex's muscles tightened as she held back from wanting to just go over and punch him across the face.

"And you're quick to anger," Alexander shook his head. "I see why I'm here."

"Oh and why are you here?" Alex asked sharply.

Alexander kept his annoying smirk as he said "To replace you."

...--...

In the silence that settled over the room like a heavy blanket Psych blinked. While he was paying attention to the pair in the middle of the room a flash of dark color seemed to have passed through his mind. That was… different. He knew the feeling, it wasn't of his own mind but something running along the connection he shared between minds. Without moving he traced along the lines inside the network of minds around him. It wasn't often someone contacted him instead of the other way around.

At the end of the search he found a mind scattered, muddy, confused and barely there. Gently he poked around, brushed through delicate thoughts looking for the soul that was somewhere inside the dark void. Dull colors flashed as the owner of the mind recognized his presence.

_Psssssych…?_

Psych gave a sad tired smile. He looked at the pile of blankets he was standing next to and softly rested a hand on the bandaged forehead. _Hey, you're awake early._

...--...

The two Alex-s started walked in a circle mimicking the other's actions, the feeling of a fight about to happen hanging thick in the air around them.

"What makes you think you could replace me?" Alex said with hate dripping off of each word.

"Plenty really," Alexander said.

"What do you have that I don't?"

"What don't I have?"

"I'm older," Alex said. "I have more experience in living, I have ties and friends, I have a first hand understanding of the world outside the labs," she listed off. "What could you possibly have that could replace me?"

Alexander's smirk grew into a sure dark smile. "I'm not useless." With a snap a pair of dark wings appeared from the back of his shirt. A long tail snaked out from behind him ending in a pair of ax blades. "Unlike you I have wings and a tail. And unlike you I don't resent my creator, which puts me in a very good position. And according to every recorded data we share the same exact DNA though we have different gender parts, so technically we are two of the same, you know what that means don't you, _sis_?" he hissed the word almost mockingly.

Alex's fists tightened as she took a fighting stance. "There's only room enough for one in existence."

Alexander took a stance of his own. "So true."

"And that would be me." Alex pointed a thumb at her chest.

Alexander had an amused look. He extended a hand and beckoned forward with four fingers, tail swinging from side to side with a hidden mocking air.

Examining everything she had been taught quickly in her mind she started forward, the first blow ready inside a fist.

Gorf watched crouched on the wall near Leo. He was slowly shaking his head. "No," he whispered. "Don't fight him."

Leo stood there not sure if he should help. Their Alex had been through training with them, though she still had trouble with group fights surely she could take on only one. She had more experience than him and it appeared to be her fight after all. But what did Gorf mean? "What?" he asked glancing behind him.

"She doesn't see it but he's going to be too good."

"Alex'll do fine," Leo said.

Gorf shook his head. "No you don't understand he's a…"

Alex thrust her arm forward but before it made contact Alexander caught her wrist and lifted it up quickly swinging the fist of his free hand under. Alex caught that blow before it struck her middle and the two stood there inches from each other grips tightening in anger as they glared. The position didn't last long as Alexander brought his tail between his legs and wrapped it around Alex's ankle. The tail yanked forward and Alexander kicked her other leg knocking it back.

Not giving her enough time to catch herself Alexander opened his wings and flapped down hard. Taking them both into the air he sped for the closed wall and swung his tail, knocking the upside down girl underneath him against the window. He let go with his tail letting Alex slide to the ground after gasping with pain from her shoulder blades crashing into the wall. He landed silently on his feet with a smug smile like he had just proven a point.

Alex watched him casually walking towards her, waiting. When he was close enough she bunched her legs up close to her, pushed down on the ground with her hands and thrust her feet up and out throwing her weight with them. It was a difficult move, especially against a wall and she stumbled a little on the landing but it was successful enough to hit Alexander full in the chest and knock him back a few good feet. Though he didn't stay down; when he hit the ground on his back he performed a backwards somersault and stopped in a crouching position like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"That all you can do?" Alexander taunted.

Alex knew not to lose it, she wouldn't be proving anything and she had a feeling that Ambrose had made this guy for two reasons. One: if he did win than she was obsolete, or two: he was trying to get a desired reaction out of her if she won. Whichever it was she wasn't going to give it to him.

Alexander got tired of waiting and stood up. He held his hands to the sides. "Come on, or are you scared? Or would 'weak' be a better word?"

Alex clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. She ran forward ready to cave his mouth in with a single blow. But she didn't get the result she wanted. When she threw the punch he took a small step to the side with hands behind his back. She tried again and again but he easily moved out of the way. On the third try his tail wrapped around her ankle and he yanked back causing her to fall on her face. Alex didn't waste time though; she quickly got up on her hands, flipped over and jumped to her feet. With the tail still wrapped around her ankle it was in the perfect position for her to stomp down on it with her free foot.

Alexander grew rigid for a moment as his tail was suddenly smashed and he whipped around to push her off. Alex was ready for him to turn, her fist already moving towards his head. It was a direct hit that caused him to stagger back. At the sudden hit he loosened his tail freeing her ankle though she didn't step off, but instead ground her heel into the floor with the tail between while he fell on his back.

Alex ignored the throbbing pain from her knuckles since it was her turn to wear the smug smile as her supposed twin tried to yank his tail out from under her foot. Before he could pull free she reached down and grabbed the tail. Lifting her foot off, holding him in a tight grip she jerked on the tail and let go sending him against a wall, glad that for once it wasn't her tail getting pulled, though she still missed it.

Alexander got to his feet, ax blade striking the floor angrily with sharp clangs.

"Oh did I hurt you?" Alex asked with mock concern.

Alexander scowled and came forward at a run with tight fists. Alex got ready for the attack putting her hands up in a fighting stance. The first punch she blocked with an arm and actually felt it rattle the steel beneath her muscle. The impact would have probably broken any normal bone. It was fists of fury as Alex did the only thing she could do: hide behind her arms. Through the bandages covering up the scared on words she could feel the limbs start to bruise. Then Alexander tried to give the finishing blow by aiming low wanting to knock air out of his opponent's lungs. But Alex saw the move coming and in a smooth motion took a quick step back, grabbed the wrist of the attacking hand and guided it sideways, at the same time she used the arm as a type of support bar while she brought her leg up in a massive kick to the head with her steel-boned foot. Her shoe connected with his cheekbone with enough force it snapped his head to the side which should have broken his neck.

Both bodies staggered back, one about to fall over, one keeping a pained foot off the ground.

It's bad to think it, Alex thought, but… "No one can replace me," she finished in a mutter. Though there was one problem; why was the boy's body still standing?

Suddenly a spark appeared on the side of his neck. Another one quickly appeared and disappeared. A few more showed as he reached a hand to his cheek and pushed until there was a loud _POP! _as his neck realigned and his head was back on correctly.

Alex tried to take a step back in surprise but it turned into a stumble from putting pressure on her bad foot. No one would be able to do that from a snapped neck, it was even impossible for someone with the healing ability like herself since they would die before the healing kicked in! Unless they were an "Android," she breathed.

"I called it," Gorf said proudly at his quick realization then faltered. "Wait, that's not a good thing."

"_DNA based _android," Alexander corrected. "Nothing you do can kill me." He gave a devil's smile. "But there's still plenty I can do to you."

Alex had to admit that she knew when she was beat and this guy was getting close to that line but she wasn't going to let it show. A part of her was hoping for a little backup, but everyone knew they couldn't stand a chance against an android, especially when they didn't know what exactly it was capable of. Even the technicians wouldn't help much since Alexander probably wouldn't let them anywhere near him. The experiment motto suddenly popped into her head, too bad there wasn't anywhere to run.

Alexander walked forward and Alex put her hands up perfectly aware of her lack of balance from a throbbing foot that was taking its sweet time to get better. The boy came close to Alex and she tried to get the first shots but they were easily blocked and she received a hard jab where the shoulder connected with the torso. Before the girl could react to the sudden pain Alexander continued with his assault. As the punches hailed down it was wall Alex could do to try and dodge and protect herself but her reflexes were slowing down as her mind started to flood with the pain quickly building up. Finally Alexander jumped up and delivered a massive kick to the chest sending Alex against the wall again causing a shattering pain to top off everything else.

After sliding to the floor Alex couldn't bring herself to get back up as her body shook in agony pleading the mind to stay down and accept defeat. As she glared up at her replacement she could see it in his look that he wasn't done yet.

The boy was about to reach down and force the girl back to her feet so they could continue when a sudden kick from nowhere sent him sideways. As the pair of green legs landed easily in front of her Alex tried a weak smile. At least someone wasn't afraid of an android. A hand lightly touched her shoulder, two people; even better.

"Alex, you okay?" Leo asked kneeling beside her.

Alex tried to get up though her body protested. "Yeah, it's just… bruising." Liar! She yelled at herself.

Raph stood in front of them facing Alexander. According to him Alex had hogged the fighting long enough, now it was his turn.

Alexander picked himself up off the floor. "Such a cheap shot," he said examining his new opponent.

"Then you should be pay'n more attention to yer surroundings," Raph said back.

The android's mouth tightened as his fists clenched until the knuckles popped.

Across the room Psych didn't like this. He'd secretly been going through Alex's memories during the times she was dozing off and he liked the memories of freedom outside the labs. He wanted Alex to have more of those and everyone else to have some of their own. He didn't want Raph and Leo's last moments to be in this metal hell. Looking down at the bundle of bandages that were supposed to be Razor, who was still struggling to pull his mind together, Psych made the decision. Alex was always the only rebel with Razor as a faithful friend and follower, it was time that changed.

Since Alexander had a microchip mind he knew he could say this freely. _Okay guys; is this what we want our future to be? Dubbed obsolete and replaced by androids? I know you don't, none of you do. _There were murmurs of admitting he was right as the thoughts passed through all the non-robotic minds in the room._ So do something about it! Stop it before it can begin, there's one of him and how many of us?!_

Knowing Psych was right the fighters got up to do what they were made for. An android might have power and strength, but everything had its weak spot and breaking point.

Raph had also heard what Psych had said. Personally he wanted to fight this guy on his o-

The thought was cut off by a kick to the chest that knocked him on his back some feet away.

"Pay more attention to your surroundings," Alexander mocked.

With a scowl of irritation Raph jumped back up. In front of him Alexander was about to dare the turtle forward when he noticed a half circle starting to form around them. The bodies ranged from so many different sizes, shapes, and colors but they were all well designed fighters, all of them taught in some kind of combat. With the skill they had there was enough to create a small army, which was their exact purpose.

The half circle tightened giving no escape routes if the android tried to make a run for it. Flying wasn't an option with so many other agile fliers placed anywhere in the room.

Dev, the leader of Aerial attacks and literal dive bombing looked around at the backup before stepped forward with crossed arms. "Listen _droid_, we've got a message for the scientists. There's not going to be any replacements, we're ending this before it can begin. We know perfectly well there's no way you can take on all of us, so go back to the creators and tell them we quit being their toys."

Alexander turned towards the apparent ringleader though he was paying keen attention on Raph. "And if I don't?" he challenged.

Dev made a small smirk. "Then we get to tear your circuit boards apart, wire by wire." There was a chorus of agreements. Though it hadn't been promised to happen, they weren't going to wait around until their own electronic twins appeared to take their place in existence.

There was a short silence before Alexander smiled and put a hand in his pocket pushing a button. "That won't be happening." As the words left his mouth the shafts in the ceiling and wall, along with the actual doorway that led into the hallway opened and buzzing filled the air.

Everyone knew what it was before the first metal bug appeared. The robots flowed into the room, the first ones heading straight for the gathered fighters, the rest hanging uncomfortably close to the other experiments. The fighters held their ground at first, succeeding in destroying a fair number of the things but suddenly a second wave of bug-robots appeared before the first was completely gone quickly backed up by a third forcing them to scatter as Tazer rods, net launchers, sharp blades, and syringes filled with God knew what were presented by the robots in more than just threat.

The idea of rebelling was quickly trampled as the experiments were imprisoned inside their own dwelling. PC and DK sat huddled in one of the many alcoves as a robot stayed at the opening with a knife. Dev and many of the other fliers were up on the poles, surrounded by electrifying net launchers ready to ground them if a wing so much as twitched. Doc was sitting against one of the walls holding Gorf's hand that was growing a film of slime in replace of nervous sweat as the frog-boy thought about what could happen. Bomber sat in the corner with his arms wrapped protectively around a shaking Eli while Psych continued to sit beside Razor with Tazer rods crackling mincingly ready to strike any sudden movements. Raph and Leo had refused to be moved from their spots though they weren't moving against the robots not sure what would happen if they did.

Alexander looked around approvingly. When he was satisfied with the knowledge that no one would go against the force of the feared robots he turned back to the window. "Now, where was I? Oh yeah…" He took a step towards Alex but Leo stepped in his way. The bug-robots around them started to close in on the movement but Alexander pushed another button from inside his pocket on the remote given by Ambrose. The robots stopped on his command. "Fine, if you want to go down first I have no reason to argue. Bring it on, turtle."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Finally deciding that there was no possible way of getting out of this white box, Mikey was forced to pace from wall to wall in complete boredom. On his five millionth trudge across the stupid room he had chosen to just go back to sleep when he got to the wall, something finally happened: gravity broke.

One second his mind was trying to think of something to think about the next minute his feet left the floor and he landed on his head collapsing on what used to be the ceiling.

Rubbing his head he sat up. "Okay, that was… weird," he thought aloud.

As he tried to figure what could have caused it, it happened again and again he landed on his head.

"Okay who- or whatever is doing that knock it off!" Mikey called not even knowing if someone was listening. Either no one was there or they were ignoring the exclamation because gravity switched again. This time Mikey was able to tilt slightly so he landed on his shoulder instead of his skull but that was beside the point.

"Dude!"

Now that a full headache was starting to pulse into reality Mikey gave up on figuring out why the room kept switching the ceiling and floor around and just wanted out of there. Abruptly his wish was granted when a hole in the current floor suddenly appareled directly underneath him. Before he knew it he was falling down a dark shaft. After a few feet the shaft tilted and he was sliding on his back. The hole gradually tilted until he was falling again. Then just as sudden as everything else that had recently happened; the shaft opened up into light and he fell into a large room.

With a most ungraceful landing he lay sprawled on some metal floor. Now with a pounding head he got to his hands and knees to look around. But before he could see anything a spotlight seemed to appear out of nowhere pointing directly at him. It was too bright causing him to shield his eyes with a hand. Looking away from the light all he was able to make from his surroundings was that he was kneeling on a large circle in the floor. There was a fine line where the circle was separate from the ground. From this line a round wall of glass swiftly shot up around him. Mikey quickly stood up to find that the glass was too tall to climb over, so he resorted to pushing on the barrier like if enough pressure was applied it would just disappear.

"Hey!" he called when he figured pushing wouldn't help him escape. He went to pounding when some kind of machine was attached to the top of the tube he was standing in. From his years of reading comic books this was the well used scene where the poor hero was at the mercy of his captives, which were usually some kind of scientists, and this was right about the time where the hero was transformed into some kind of hideous mutant. But what would the outcome be if the hero was already a mutant?

As the machine above him warmed up Mikey started to pound harder.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Leaving a fine dent in the wall, Alexander slid to the floor. In all logic of the animal kingdom turtles weren't supposed to move that fast! But oh well, that was the last time he underestimated anything. Getting to his feet he found himself by the pile of blankets stuffed into the corner of the wall and window. His eyes fell on the scarf wearing ancient five-year-old.

The odds of the new fight were pretty even on who could win, which the android did not like. Even though he had the strength to shatter any normal bone with a single hit he still couldn't damage an opponent if he could not hit them. These two turtles had experience in fights and wouldn't stand still long enough for him to break anything. It was very aggravating. But if he had a bit of leverage… his microchip mind quickly did the math. Yep, he liked those odds.

Psych saw the look and started backing up, but he wasn't fast enough and Alexander grabbed him by the throat, easily lifting the small body leaving his bare feet kicking at a least a foot off the ground. The scarf around Psych's neck worked as padding to keep from completely choking, but choking wasn't what he was worried about as he grabbed the wrist holding him.

The entire room tensed as Alexander smiled darkly. None of the experiments would move against the robots to help but he had to make sure the actual mutants didn't try anything. "Okay you two," he said looking at Raph and Leo. "Back off and let me do what I'm here to or he gets it. An aged body that's half my size, it'll be almost too easy."

The two turtles didn't move to attack. They both had figured that Psych was as important to the experiments as Master Splinter was to them. They couldn't do something to provoke Alexander, but by doing nothing they did just that.

Alexander scowled seeing that neither turtle moved away. He shrugged, "Fine, I'm a droid of my word, just let it be known to _everyone_" he called the word out so the whole room could hear "that his death is on your shoulders." With that he lifted his empty hand and squeezed Psych's only way of breathing between two knuckles.

A muffled whine came from the boy's throat as he immediately started to choke from lack of air, he grabbed the hand trying to pull it off his nose but the steel grip was too strong.

Leo stood there uneasily knowing it was up to them to stop Alexander, but he was afraid that if they ran forward the android would do something that would kill Psych a lot faster. He was forced to stand there while Raph, for once in his life, waited for his older brother to tell him what to do though he knew Leo's racing mind was just as blank as his. They watched in dismay as Psych frantically squirmed while his lungs starved for oxygen.

Alex watched too, hating how her body was rendered useless with pain. Then she noticed something behind the suffocating body. She lowered a fist to the floor and, ignoring the pain with each hit, quickly rapped her knuckles on the floor: .-. .- --.. -- .-. ... . .-.. .--. Hopefully he could still understand.

Alexander stood there starting to get impatient when the wanted effect finally happened; the squirming body stopped moving and went limp in his grip. Exclamations full of hate broke the silence of disbelief that followed but there was nothing that could be done.

With a twisted smile Alexander loosened his grip and the small body crumpled on the floor. But then unexpectedly a few of the bug-robots started coming forward. Before Alexander could figure why a foot pinned the blades of his tail to the floor and an arm hooked around his neck from behind, pulling him against whoever had him. It was almost the perfect position as his temporary captor used his body as a shield from the robots.

"I might not know exactly who you are," a voice hissed from behind his ear. "But you just pissed off the wrong guy."

"Hmph," Alexander said with amusement as he grabbed the arm. Whoever had him was weak, wouldn't last long in a fight which was why they were hiding behind his back. It would be easy to throw them off.

Razor knew this and gripped one of the wings with his free hand. "Keep moving and I snap your wing."

"Go ahead and try, even at full strength you wouldn't be able to, weakling."

Razor knew this was true also, his still foggy mind raced for a way to end this without killing himself.

Across the room Gorf squeezed Doc's hand harder trying to get his mouth working knowing he had to pass on information, not sure if Razor was conscious when the room was told a vital part about Alexander. With a burst of courage he yelled "Machine, Razor he's a machine!" At the outburst a Tazer rod came forward and shocked Gorf leaving a stinging welt when it pulled away.

"Really?" Razor muttered.

"Which is why you can't beat me," Alexander said coolly like he had the upper hand.

Razor gave his wide sharp toothed smile. "Then you don't know me too well. I'm Razor Mouth, underwater sabotage and well named. Do you know the quickest way to destroy an enemy's technology?"

Alexander's smile shrank some as Razor shifted the arm around his neck, before the android could do anything six rows of shark teeth clamped down between the neck and shoulder with the sound of crunching metal. When he pulled back what acted as the skin and the layers of metal pulled away along with a clump of wires that eventually snapped. Razor spat what was in his mouth out on the floor. Then, just to be sure, stuffed a hand into the new hole, wincing as the sparks of electricity shocked him, blindly grabbed a clump of wires at the base of the neck that connected to the brain, pulled them out into the open and cut them with a simple bite. Now that the body was practically useless he put his hand back in the hole and fished around for the central core that was usually somewhere in the chest area. When he was sure he had a grip on it he yanked back as hard as his weakened muscles would allow and snapped the wires it was connected to shutting the entire android down.

Razor let go of the dead weight and it collapsed on the floor. Swaying where he stood with exhaustion he looked down at the smaller body and nudged it with a scarred foot. "You bloody faker."

Psych opened his eyes and sat up rubbing a bruised nose. _I couldn't breathe; I had every right to fake a death._

Now, with the ring leader of the robotic attack gone the bug-robots surprisingly pulled back and disappeared the way they had come so quickly it was still impossible to make a break for it through one of the three openings before they closed.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Ambrose Luben sat watching the monitors before him. He had got the outcome he was expecting, though not in the way he was expecting. To him it would have been a win if the android had succeeded or not. If it had then he would have had an unstoppable robot at his disposal without worrying about rebellion. But since it didn't win, the fight had showed him that not only could Alex still not be victorious without help unless she goes on a rampage, but it showed that there were actual bonds between his experiments and these new mutants. He could use that to his advantage.

There were other things that he had found helpful and interesting from this fight as well. The bug-robots were still widely feared, the ancient successful one was very good leverage when endangered, a major rebellion was still possible and could be successful if not quickly handled, the turtles could handle themselves in combat, the one named Razor could stop an android even at his weakest state if he was in the right position, and - if he saw correctly - Alex still knew Morse code.

He was sure if he went back over the tape of the fight he would find a few more points of interest but that would have to wait for later. As for right now he turned his attention to other monitors. Work was going well on examining just what made up these mutant turtles, and no red alerts were coming from the mutation vats.

Since mutating an organic being was going well a question popped up in Ambrose's head, as it usually did. Now that he knew the bonds between the mutants and experiments inside the holding room, how well was the bond between them and the other two mutants? Since he couldn't do anything with the one under examination yet he only had one to work with but that was fine.

Fishing around in his lab coat pocket he pulled out a cell phone and pushed the speed dial to his colleagues in the mutation vats. A voice answered on the other end.

"The outcomes are beyond expectation," the voice said before anything could be asked.

"Very good." Ambrose gave a short nod though no one was there to see it. "I have a minor experiment to test out with this mutant and the others. When you are done send it to the holding room with all the past experiments."

"Yes sir."

Ambrose hung up. Like the scientist he was, all he could do now was sit and wait for the results to show themselves.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

For the first time every inhabitant inside the large room was fully awake and paying attention to reality. There was a buzz of conversation revolving around the topics of replacements, not believing Psych would fake suffocation, and rebellion.

"You guys are so lucky I woke up when I did," Razor was saying as he lounged beside a sleeping Psych on the pile of blankets. His body was still weak and tired but his thoughts were becoming more orderly and he was getting back to his old self.

"I wonder how you woke up," Doc said, leaning against the wall.

Razor shrugged. "I don't know, I guess something just pulled me back to reality."

"Yeah, Alex getting her butt kicked," Raph said.

Razor smiled. "You still can't win in a fight."

"Oh shut up before I knock you back out," Alex said with crossed arms while her purple bruises slowly faded back to her pale skin color.

The shark-boy just ignored the threat and looked up above him at Gorf who sat in his usual gravity defying position on the wall. "Thanks for the tip by the way."

Gorf smiled, rubbing the spot where the burn mark used to be before Doc healed it.

"I wish we could have done more," Leo said as he sat with crossed arms.

_You protected Alex even with the robots right there, that's good enough for anyone._

"I thought you were asleep," Alex said.

_I'm dozing in and out._

After a small while, the conversations quickly stopped as it was noticed the shaft in the wall was opening. Tension rose in the air as everyone waited what would come out this time. It literally could be anything as the sound of something coming down grew closer.

When it finally appeared the tension was dropped considerably but it still lingered with those that started to distrust anything new.

The new thing was a teenage body. A sixteen-year-old boy lay sprawled on the floor with blonde shaggy hair and bright blue eyes, cheap jeans, and an orange shirt. Nothing obvious pointed it out as an experiment; truthfully he looked like a perfectly normal teenager plucked off the streets from outside the labs.

The boy staggered to his feet holding his head. "Dude, major headache…" he muttered. He looked at his hands. "Whoa…"

Raph and Leo shared questioning looks with hints of disbelief and worry. That voice… it was a little too familiar. Alex thought so too and stood up now that her foot had healed. Cautiously, she walked over to the new comer just knowing that what she was thinking couldn't possibly be true, but…

The boy looked passed his hands and saw the girl coming. His face broke into a huge smile. "Alex!" he exclaimed happily. "Man, I was beginning to think I'd never see you again!"

Alex was stricken, she was right. "God…" was all she could say.

The boy faulted a moment in his happiness and slightly tilted his head to one side. "Al? What's wrong?"

Do you need to ask?! she wanted to yell at him but it came out as "Mikey, _you're human_!"

* * *

Didn't see that coming, did you?

Anyway, this chapter was very long, though I'm glad I finished. I don't know about the fight scenes though, I'm still working on writing fights, its so hard to put so many actions into words like that. Anyway, tell me what you guys think.

P.S chapters may take longer than normal to write becuase my dad's forcing me to help him fix his new boat to make sure it still floats.


	20. Vanishing Act

**Chapter Twenty**

**Vanishing Act**

"Okay, now I'm gonna kill someone."

"I agree with Raph," Alex said.

"This is just weird," Razor said shaking his head after looking the guy that was supposed to be Mikey up and down.

"Guys I think that's a little rash even under the circumstances," Leo told Raph and Alex before he turned to his now human brother sitting on his left, the pile of blankets on his right. "And Mike, stop poking yourself."

"Sorry," Mikey said and put his shirt down.

_Leo's right, _the voice rang in their minds. _Deciding to kill someone now is very harsh. You should be happy Mikey came out of the mutation vats without any major side effects._

"We are grateful," Alex said. "But that's beside the point!"

Raph nodded. "And how could you take Leo's side?" he accused. "If they did this to Mike, then just think what could be happening to Don."

"It's one thing to be concerned, I'm worried too," Leo admitted. "But you can't jump to decisions and off the bat say you're gonna kill someone, especially when we can't even get out of this room."

Razor covered his head with a blanket as a shield against the argument about to break out as a headache started thumping into life under his temple. But, thankfully, Psych cut across Raph before he could speak.

_Quiet both of you, you are just as bad as Bomber and Gorf over cake. Leo is right in choosing not to kill someone so quickly. _Leo smiled. _But Raph is also right to be thinking about your other brother. Maybe Mike can tell you something about Donatello- when he stops poking himself in the stomach of course._

Mikey quickly put his shirt back down like a guilty child caught doming something by a teacher. "I can't help it," he said innocently. "It's just so weird being human, especially having so many fingers." He clenched and unclenched his fists watching the five digits on each hand when he was used to only having three.

"Yeah, now you can finally count to ten," Raph couldn't help but say.

"Dude, that's just cold."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Mike, do you know anything about Don?" he asked trying to get back on topic.

Mikey shook his head. "I've been in some white room ever since I woke up. I haven't really seen anyone until I fell out of the wall over there. Psych you knew that didn't you?" he directed at the small boy beside Razor, the two having done the exchange a few minutes ago.

Psych shrugged. _Sometimes it's best to hear something concerning family from family… I think, I don't know, I'm not really knowledgeable on the whole family-thing. _The boy yawned through his still bruised nose and rolled over facing the window. _Anyway, if you two are so bent on killing someone more power to you, just don't over do it; there _are _differences between killing, murder, and manslaughter. And remember that you have to get out of this room before you can do anything. Do whatever you need to escape I guess, Alex got out of here before, I'm sure she can do it again. I'm going back to sleep, Razor you might want to also, trust me when I say it'll help with that headache._

"How did you guys get out anyway?" Gorf asked.

Razor uncovered his head unsure if he wanted to go to sleep or not. "I can't really remember, it happened what- ten years ago?"

"Um…" Alex leaned back on her hands and looked towards the ceiling trying to recall that confusing night.

"It was during aerial training," a voice said. When everyone looked for the source they found Dev sitting in a one of the alcoves close to the floor with his legs dangling over the edge. "We were starting some new lesson that you didn't give a damn about so you sat on the floor with crossed arms like the stubborn ass you can be sometimes."

"Oh yeah," Alex said the memory coming back. "What's-his-face-instructor threw me against the wall for not listening and I-"

"Knocked him out," Dev said with her.

"Man, everyone couldn't stop laughing when he walked around with that bandage from the broken nose for weeks," Dev said with a smile. The smile shrank some, "Course, we always got a round for not keeping our mouths shut. A few feathers missing here, some laser blasts there, a couple boots up our asses but it was still funny."

"Yeah, anyway," Alex continued the story. "I remember the red alert plain and simple. Man that thing can be earsplitting."

"And the flashing red light," Razor added. "I mean honestly, does the red light even do anything except make me disoriented?"

"Yeah, you'd be as helpless as a beached whale against a strobe light," Alex said.

"_Anyway_," Razor said to move the subject along. "Me and Alex had already planned it out somewhat. She was to escape first which - as we thought - set the alarm off, that would have been my cue to find a way out of timed sabotage training, which I coincidentally had training at the same time as hers. It wasn't hard for me when I knew what I was doing, though I got a bloody nose from my damn instructor before I bit three of his fingers off. Hey- I didn't mean to!" he exclaimed at the horrified expression on Mikey's face. "I was trying to get his arm but he moved."

"Because that's so much better," Leo muttered.

"It was in self defense." Razor crossed his arms. "I don't mix well with electricity."

"That's reason enough for anyone here," Dev put in.

"Yep and he was stumbling like a drunk in the flashing lights when we ran into each other," Alex said. Razor stuck his tongue out at her. "Well you were," Alex said at the expression. "I was practically carrying you when the robots appeared."

Razor jumped and quickly sat up. He twisted around trying to look at his back. "That's weird," he muttered as the tall, thin, grey triangle protruded from the bandages. The shiver that had gone down his spine at the memory had pushed his dorsal fin out. Sucking in a breath and with tensed muscles pulled the fin back inside his body, when it was gone he fell back on the blankets. A small sweat had appeared under the bandages with the effort. "Ow."

"You can still do that?" Dev asked.

"Can't… you?" Razor asked as a patch between the shoulder blades pulsed sending a throbbing pain across his sore body.

Dev shook his head. "Nah, I dried out weeks ago. It's easier to fly when my feathers aren't clumped up with that slime."

"Practically everyone's dried out," Gorf said. "We gave up on the whole hiding-thing, we're not going anywhere."

"And it's less painful," Dev added.

"Anyway, then what happened?" Mikey asked shoving his unruly blonde hair from his eyes. "What?" he said to the looks. "I wanna know what happened."

Alex sighed. "Where were we? Oh yeah, the robots. We both knew perfectly well we wouldn't be able to outrun the things with Razor unable to run in a straight line so I pulled a really stupid move. I grabbed Razor, let out my wings and tried to out fly them." Dev held back a laugh though a small sound still escaped. Alex glared up at him but continued without a comment. "The halls were very cramped with my wingspan but I knew the flight wouldn't last long. There are these secret elevators that run straight up to the base of the Statue of Liberty and we were so close. It was just a few more turns across some intersections and we would be there."

"But we weren't that lucky," Razor took up the tale. "One of the damn things behind us had a net launcher, which is why using wings to get away from them is stupid though I guess that small detail slipped your mind at the time." Alex scowled at him but Razor just ignored it. "So next thing we know we're tumbling head over heels until we stop inside a net. Lucky us it wasn't one of the electric ones but the cords were still made of some type of metal or something. Before we got too tangled I was able to bite through some of the cords making a good hole and we did anyone would do: we ran like hell."

"Yeah, and I remember a hand using my tail as a handle so you wouldn't fall behind."

"I was dizzy!"

Rolling her eyes Alex continued. "So now there are a whole swarm of the robotic bugs behind us, right? We were coming up on this intersection - the last one before the elevators and we were so caught up in our destination and what was behind us that we didn't notice what was waiting with open arms right in front of us."

"Damn muscle men…" Razor muttered.

"Yeah well by the time we realize we had at least six henchmen-type goons waiting for us we practically ran right into them. I was able to stop in time and change direction before I was nabbed, but Razor was too disoriented by the flashing lights and tripped. When I realized he wasn't behind me they already had him pinned down."

"Freaking crushing my spine with their fat ass feet," Razor remembered with crossed arms. "And then you did it."

Alex's mouth tightened into a line before saying. "I've told you this before. It was all I could do."

"What happened?" Mikey asked with that blunt innocent way of his.

"The elevators were at the end of a hall right behind me. I could hear the robots coming; they would have appeared in any second. I knew that I only had one chance to get out of there." Alex pulled her knees up close and hugged her arms as she looked for the right words. As the small silence stretched on she could almost feel the confusion of everything from those long years ago, knowing perfectly well what she was doing, knowing she didn't want to but had to. "Razor you have to believe me," she quietly told the floor. "If there was a way we both could have left I would have taken it no matter what, but there wasn't. If I went for you I would have just been grabbed too. So I did what I did; I ran. Straight down the hall, the elevator door was already opening automatically from a motion sensor. But someone must have hit some master control or something because the doors started closing again. I had to jump for it and almost lost a foot to the doors in the process. Inside the elevator I punched through the ceiling and half climbed half flew to the top. From there I hit open air and just went in some direction. I would have kept going until I hit Japan but guilt held me back. I know I abandoned everyone but I was going to come back."

"And you did too," Dev said. "Now tail and wingless, stuck in this scientific hellhole all over again with nothing to show for freedom except bringing a few friends from the outside along for the slow ride to painful nothingness of obsoletetion."

"That's not even a word."

"Shut up Gorf."

Razor laced his fingers behind his head staring up but looking at nothing. Subconsciously he started to chew on his tongue - an old habit from before he was mutated and still had the flat, floppy pink tongue filling his mouth. Back in those days he had tried numerous times to bite his own tongue off in the likeliness of bleeding to death, but someone always figured what he was doing before he could complete the task and stopped him. One time he remembered Bomber knocking him out cold and when he came round was greeted with the comment "If we gotta suffer so do you, suck it up." Now with the rough black thing taking up the space under the roof of his mouth that idea was forever impossible since even the sharpest metal couldn't cut it, it was numb to the hardest electrical shock from a cable, and, sadly, there was a scarce amount of taste buds.

After a short while of silence taking control of the corner - except for the sound of Raph smacking Mikey on the head to get his brother to keep his shirt down - Razor finally said "Alex I believe you. Now I'm just mad at the fact that we're here the way we are."

Another long moment passed. To the experiments this happened regularly. There wasn't much they could do except exist, the most depressed ones wishing to die but even though a lot of them had the abilities to kill they wouldn't commit suicide since that meant they would be abandoning their fellow experiments for their own selfish reasons for wanting out of the life and leaving the others to face what they couldn't take anymore. That wouldn't be fair - though everything else wasn't fair. Whoever first said 'life ain't fair' had no idea how much of an understatement they were making.

As for the actual mutants Mikey had finally stopped poking himself in the gut and went to other parts trying to adjust to this newly found body. It was weird to have five fingers and toes, white skin, hair, ears, an actual nose instead of a snout. Of course he had to further inspect the nose by going cross-eyed to watch it as he found a way to widen the nostrils, and if that didn't look stupid enough he went as far as actually sticking a finger in one of the holes, which was rewarded with another hard smack to the head by his older brother. But even with these new body parts to keep him occupied, he had the feeling of being exposed, even with the cheap clothes, since he was now missing the shell he had grown up in.

Raph was getting impatient and annoyed about being inside this place. He didn't like it at all, especially not knowing what was happening to or where Don was. But instead of thinking of a way to get out of this place to find his brother, his mind was full of ways he was going to tear these scientists that were still hiding behind metal walls and robots apart when he finally got his hands on them, not only because him and his family had been taken and are being held against their will, but also because they had given Mikey a way to be annoying on a whole new level! He smacked his human brother yet again after Mike somehow got it in his head that it was possible for him to have an even bigger mouth and tried to stick his entire fist inside that hole under his nose. Oh these scientists were gonna pay…

Leo's thoughts were somewhat more productive as he looked around trying to find a way out of the room. By Alex and Razor's story of a somewhat successful escape the only way to make a break for it is if they were already out of the room for some reason, and even that proved to have a slim chance of making it. Though he did wonder: whenever something came in a hole would open up in the walls, if something entered then it could leave the same way, right? What if someone was waiting when one of the holes opened up, preferably the doorway, and took the opportunity to leave? Yeah, from there maybe they could jam the door to keep it open. A prick of hope and achievement sparked inside him as a plan finally started to build in his mind - no matter how slow.

In the quiet that had settled Psych shifted in his sleep, stopping in a position that his small bare foot barely touched Leo's right leg. Suddenly an image appeared in Leo's mind. It was a very detailed 3D image of the room they were in, including the poles going from wall to wall up in the air, and even the three openings that led out of the room. It was something like the holograms Don was able to create of building blueprints. Then, around the outside of the room, a rectangular prism appeared to snake around it, branching off in some points and fading into nothing. Somehow he just knew that was the ventilation system.

_Just thought you should have a rough map… Now hopefully I can stop dozing and go to sleep…_

As the seconds ticked by as slowly as usual Razor gave a quiet sigh and lifted a hand behind him and knocked on the wall with a knuckle in a pattern of sound and pause: .. -- .-- -- .-. .-. .. . -.. .- -... -- ..- - -.. -- -.

Alex put a fist by the floor and tapped back: .. -.- -. -- .-- --..-- -- . - -- --

Razor couldn't help but ask: .-- ... .- - -.. -- -.-- -- ..- - ... .. -. -.- ... ... .- .--. .--. . -. .. -. --. - -- ... .. --

Alex sighed sadly before tapping out: .. - .-. ..- - ... ..-. ..- .-.. .-.. -.-- -.. -- -. - -.- -. -- .-- -.-. -- ..- .-.. -.. -... . .- -. -.-- - ... .. -. --. --..-- .. -- --. .-.. .- -.. - ... . --. ..- -.-- ... -.-. .- -. - ..- -. -.. . .-. ... - .- -. -.. - ... .. ... .-- ... . -. .. ... .- -.-- ... . -.-. -- ..- .-.. -.. -... . ... -.-. ... . -.. ..- .-.. . -.. -.. .. ... . -.-. - .. -- -.

Razor put his hand to the wall to give a reply when Dev cut him off.

"Okay stop it!" the winged youth exclaimed from his spot in the alcove. He had a look of total annoyance. "That's completely unfair."

Alex was about to question why - everyone in the labs knew Morse code except for the scientists that had bigger things to memorize than dots and dashes - when she noticed Gorf underneath Dev had a look of concentration on his face eyes going from side to side quietly mouthing letters off. "You guys forgot Morse?" Alex asked as the realization dawned on her.

"No one's used the code in years," Gorf shrugged as he gave up on trying to figure out the small conversation, his memory of the code rusty. "Except for Razor who was always tapping out things to himself," he added.

Across the room Eli had heard the almost rhythmic knocks and heard someone called 'Morse'. She turned to Bomber who was asleep in the corner. After she lightly touched his top right arm the boy jerked awake and quickly looked around. Finding nothing of any threat he turned to Eli in question.

"Bomber, who's Morse?" the girl asked innocently.

"Morse?" Bomber repeated rubbing an eye, trying not to get snappy at being woken up from a sleep he was actually enjoying, it was Eli after all.

The girl nodded.

It took a moment for Bomber to sort his thoughts. "Oh, you mean Morse code? It's just a stupid way to encode messages. It was used before telephones were invented using numerous patterns of dots and dashes, not widely used in the twenty-first century. Why?"

Eli pointed to the corner by the window. "They were talking about it. And I think Alex and Razor were using it a second ago. Do you know it?"

Bomber gave a small huff before saying, "I used to, but I haven't used it in forever, I can't really remember much of the alphabet."

"What do you remember?" Eli asked curiously.

Bomber scratched his head. He wasn't really one for Morse code. The only reason he was taught it in the first place was so messages could be sent between experiments when they wanted to talk without the scientists eavesdropping in on their conversations, but over the years since Alex left the code had been used less and less until finally it just dropped out of their collections of languages stored in their minds. Truthfully the only dots he cared about are the ones coming out as beeps from a bomb countdown. Though if Eli wanted to know, there are always two letters that everyone should know, the two patterns that are easiest to remember for any living being.

"Okay," he said and Eli sat down in front of him all ears. "Here's a phrase everyone knows. It's really simple." Lowering a fist to the floor he tapped out: ...--...

Of course Eli knew it. "That's Morse code?"

"Yes, SOS is Morse code. There, you already knew two letters and you didn't even know it. And that's probably all I can remember." Bomber saw the small look of disappointment on Eli's face. Bomber rubbed his eyes again, why was he such a softy for this kid? "If you want to know the entire alphabet go ask Alex or Razor, maybe they can teach you."

Eli brightened and got up.

Watching her back Bomber slumped down and crossed both set of arms ready to go back to sleep. Just as he closed his eyes the lights cut off. No one said anything thinking someone just shut the lights off, some experiments were expecting the lights to go off sooner or later sure that over time things would start to fall back to the ways things had been. The only ones that went on red alert where sitting in a corner.

"Hey, who turned off the lights?" Mikey asked looking around at the sudden lack of vision.

Alex jumped to her feet, after being ambushed once with the lights suddenly turning off and would have been killed if it hadn't of been the guys doing the sneak attack she didn't quite trust this.

Razor could feel his hearing slowly heighten as he, too, became uneasy. He caught the slight sound of a door sliding open which shot his senses up. He heard footsteps; they were rather quiet but still there and heavy. There was a slight different scent in the room, something… human. Not chemically human like Mikey but something more natural. "Muscle men," he whispered.

In the middle of the room a small figure lit up like a candle as her sensitive ears picked up on the footsteps and became nervous, making Eli a great target but before anyone could tell her to put the light out an arm wrapped around her small shoulders and a large hand clamped over her mouth before she could call out for her protector. The hand on the end of the arm around her shoulders produced a needle and with a quick prick to the arm the shot put a hold on the bodily chemicals in her skin to kill the light.

Leo, Raph, and Mikey all jumped to their feet their ninja training well preparing them for fighting in the dark. Razor tried to jump up too but his legs buckled and he fell back over his body still not quite healed. So instead he just barked "Bomber!"

Bomber jerked out of his doze at his name. He blinkingly looked around trying to figure why it was suddenly so dark. He got to his feet. "Eli?" he said.

The four guys and Alex ran to where the girl had last been seen as Gorf jumped from the wall, easily bound across the floor in a few jumps and found the bar that would shed some light on things. Putting his feet on the wall he yanked back on the oversized light switch, used his weight he pulled it down and then shoved it back up to reset the lights. A few moments later the darkness was destroyed to show two humanoid turtles and a human fighting four body builder-type guys.

Suddenly one pulled a metal ball the size of his palm (which was pretty big) from a pocket and threw it down with closed eyes. Light erupted from the ball painfully blinding any close enough with their eyes open.

When the spots and tears had been rubbed from eyes Raph, Leo, Mikey, and a couple of others looked around. The guys were gone with no sign that they had even been there save for a useless ball that looked like it had broken into two semi-circles sitting on the ground.

Bomber looked around with a mixture of worry and anger quickly building up inside him every passing moment when he couldn't find the small girl. "Where's Eli?" he demanded the ones before him like they had taken her themselves.

Leo had a guess but he wasn't sure if he should say it wondering how Bomber would react since him and Raph seemed to share similar tempers.

While anger was noticeably starting to change the color of Bomber's face Mikey was looking around in a little confusion, knowing that when the fight had begun there were four of them trained as ninjas. Now there were only three. "Uh dudes… where's Alex?"

Raph looked around too and sure enough didn't see the girl. She would be on the ground since she no longer had wings and there wasn't really anywhere to hide. He went through what had just happened: when they had gotten up he sensed Alex beside him when they ran to fight, when the lights turned on she wasn't there. He remembered Psych saying he was sure that Alex would probably find a way of escape again. Looking at the wall where the door that led outside now blended in with the metal it slowly dawned on him. "Oh no way in hell…" Well, he thought, the kid is good at vanishing acts.

* * *

Has Alex once again abandoned her friends for the sake of her own freedom?!

Anyway, yeah this chapter is kind of short compared to my more recent ones, or I think anyway. But hey, I told you guys I'd get this in before the end of the month, and what do you know, I did it! I just hope you guys could understand what happened ten years ago from Alex's and Razor's bad narrating.

I can't wait for summer, I've got 19 school days left before summer and its awsome, so maybe I'll get these chapters done faster than how I've been. But that's a maybe, I'm still not promising anything except that this story will have a finish... sooner or later...

Review please!


	21. Don't Leave Friends

**WARNING: extremely long chapter alert not for those with an attention span of less than two minutes**

Okay, with that aside I guess I can safely say to enjoy the chapter, and I guess I should go ahead and say that I do not own any TMNT characters, though everything else is fully 100 percent mine.

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* * *

Chapter Twenty-One**

**Don't Leave Friends**

To chase and be chased at the same time is both weird and confusing, especially when the ones chasing you had guns with not only bullets but darts that could be filled with anything from tranquilizers to poison to some kind of mutating agent.

"Stand still, damn it!" one of the four muscle men behind Alex yelled as they ran down the hall.

Yeah like I'm going to do that, Alex thought as she willed her legs to go faster. The man in front of her was only so many feet ahead, just barely out of reach with Eli under his arm struggling and kicking but her small body couldn't do much damage, and it was only a hunch but Alex could guess that she wasn't made for the battle field. The smaller bodies were usually for undercover agents or scouts rather than soldiers on the front lines.

The chase would have been easier if Alex wasn't being chased and she could just sneak up on the guy, but no there just had to be four others guys behind her making a racket so now everyone was running down the metal hallway!

Eli was facing Alex as she was carried and reached a hand out. Alex reached forward; if she could grab Eli then maybe she could pull her out of the man's grasp and go from there. If only Eli's six-year-old arm was a few inches longer. If only Alex still had her wings she would have been able to close the gap easily. If only there weren't guys behind shooting at her this wouldn't be so hard. If only, if only, if only…

The hand was about to close around the small fingers but the owner stumbled after her foot got shot. It was only a dart that got stuck in the rubber of her shoe but the force of contact still made her stumble and almost fall. She fought to regain her balance while running and sped up. Eyes fixed in angry determination Alex got as close as she could and slapped both hands around Eli's and abruptly stopped. Inside her steel grip Eli's hand didn't move an inch while the man holding her kept going. Sure the sudden jerk almost pulled the girl's arm out of its socket, but it also caused that man holding her to lose his grip and Eli came free.

Having no where to go all Alex could do was put Eli up against a wall and stand in front of her. The four men that had been running behind caught up. The man that had been holding Eli stopped and turned around with fists, it looked like he didn't have a gun, how lucky for the lone fighter.

Alex looked at the ones she would have to take on knowing perfectly well she still couldn't fight by herself five-to-one especially since she didn't have any weapons except for her fists and feet. God I miss my tail, she thought.

Trying to think of a plan Alex looked down the hall where they would have headed if they kept running, maybe fifty feet up ahead she could see that the hall opened up into an intersection. Maybe she could lose the muscle men from there.

Turning back to the guys she would have to face she put her fists up eyes flickering left and right to keep track of the men closing in from both sides, Eli fearfully gripping the back of her shirt. Then without warning Alex took off to the right dragging Eli behind her by the arm.

Knowing Eli couldn't run as fast as Alex with the older body having longer legs. Alex quickly stopped while they were still ahead of the men and pulled Eli onto her back and took off at a run again.

With years of running under her belt Alex was able to get to the intersection quickly and looked around. There were three ways she could go inside the square room. Alex tried to choose which way.

Soon after the five muscle men entered the intersection and looked at the three halls to run down. Knowing they'd be in trouble if the scientists learned there were two experiments on the loose the five split up and took off.

With the men gone a ninja gave a breath of relief as she stayed stuck in the corner of the room by the ceiling hands and feet pressed against the two walls before they connected. Dropping down Alex smiled at the well executed hiding-in-plain-sight trick. She let Eli drop from her back and crouched down so they were eye level.

"You okay?" she asked.

Eli was biting her bottom lip but nodded.

Alex stayed crouched down looking around. She was trying to remember the layout of the labs. They couldn't go back to where they had come from because at the moment it might as well have been a dead end since they couldn't open the door. "Hmph," Alex huffed and straightened. "Come on," she said and walked into the hallway straight ahead, the one that only one muscle guy had gone down. Eli quickly followed, pushing her hand into Alex's as they went.

"Where are we going?" Eli asked.

"If I remember right I think there's some kind of weaponry down here somewhere," Alex said. "If I can get in there I could have lots of fun." A devilish smile pulled at her mouth at the thought of what she could accomplish getting her hands on the labs' weapons.

Eli inched closer to Alex as they went down the repetitive empty hallway. She leaned ever closer and rested her head on Alex's side. "I want Bomber," she whispered.

Alex put a comforting hand on Eli's far shoulder. "Hey," she said softly. "You'll see him again, and not only that but we're getting out of this place. I'll get you to the world outside the labs, to freedom, and this will never happen again."

"Really?" Eli asked with pure innocence.

"Yeah." Alex nodded. "I promise and I never break my promises."

They continued to walk, Alex wanting to make a run for it, her muscles ready to just sprint to wherever she could go but she knew that wasn't the way to do it. She needed to conserve energy until she heard buzzing or saw a red light start to flash. So far as far as she knew no one really knew she and Eli were out here. That was just the way she wanted things too. If this whole thing could go quietly then there was no real threat to the two, knowing that Bomber would kill her if she let something happen to Eli.

Finally after what felt like forever Eli suddenly stopped. Alex stumbled a moment since the girl had been leaning on her and almost made the older one trip. Alex turned to see what the matter was to find Eli staring at the wall.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Is this the door?" Eli asked putting a hand on the wall.

Alex looked carefully. There was a hairline crack running up the wall, few feet to the left was an identical crack running parallel to the first one. It was the doorway, so well blended in to the rest of the wall. "Eli," she finally said. "What were you created for?"

"Scout, information collection, forgery and a 'backup flashlight' as Dev sometimes puts it," Eli said business-like.

"Huh," Alex sounded with small interest. "You must have sharp eyes then, huh?"

"Yeah I guess," Eli said with a nonchalant shrug. "But the instructors don't like it when I sometimes just want to play games instead of focusing at the task at hand." The girl looked up and pointed high on the wall. "There's a centimeter indention here, it's probably a hand scanner to unlock the door."

Alex put her hand on the door trying to think of a way to open it without using the scanner. Balling up a fist she punched the door then quickly brought a foot up and kicked in the same spot. The only result was Alex hopping up and down holding a hurt foot and pulsing knuckles.

While the experiment ranted off a line of swears under her breath a muscle man rounded the corner of an intersection up ahead.

Eli saw the man and stepped behind Alex in fright.

Alex dropped her foot and clenched her fists. Every instinct inside her was telling her to turn and run, stick to the experiment motto, but she wanted to get into that weaponry. To do that she would need a handprint of one of the adults in the labs and here was one running towards her.

Taking a fighting stance Alex waited.

Seeing how this experiment wasn't going to make a run for it the muscle man stopped some feet away, taking the determination in the girl's eyes into account. He pulled a gun, cocked it and aimed.

"Eli," Alex said softly behind her so that the man couldn't hear. "Get close to the ground and stay down. I'll take care of this guy."

Eli gave a small whimper but slowly crouched down nonetheless.

Alex stood there trying to think of a way to get passed that gun. The moments ticked by and the determination started to soften and her fists loosened like someone figuring they were beat. When the look of a fighter vanished from the older girl's face she opened her hands and put them up.

"Che," the man said and walked forward. "Go easily and maybe I won't tell the scientists about this," he said.

Alex didn't say a word, concentrating on looking defeated. She calculated the distance between her and him while eyeing his body language for the moment where he let down most of his guard. Just a few more steps…

Suddenly Alex shot forward. The sudden movement caused the man to bring his gun back up but Alex was ready. In one movement she quickly pushed the gun hand to the side and swung a fist up connecting with the underside of the man's jaw. Before he could recover she took a small step back, twisted and hit him in the gut with a sidekick. He bent forward a little on impact and Alex swung a fist, metal knuckles hitting his temple with enough force it knocked him out easily.

Alex grabbed his arm and dragged the body to where they had been standing. With some difficulty she propped the limp body up as it hung heavily on her. "Okay… where's the… scanner?" she asked.

Eli got shakily back to her feet and pointed on the wall. "Here."

Working with the guy's arm, trying not to drop him, Alex pressed his hand to the scanner. A blue light went over the handprint and the section of wall turned green. The door slid open and Alex dragged the body into the room while telling Eli to stand inside the door and watch for anyone that might come by.

After dropping the body in a corner she searched through his pockets until she found a keycard. It would prove most useful to get inside most of the rooms in the labs without trouble. After stowing the card in her pocket she looked around.

In the room there were guns of numerous types hung up on the walls along with odd devices that could be used for many ways of portable punishments. There were pre-made bombs along with some packs of chemicals to create bombs on the go. The room was a house for offensive technology and ways to carry the weapons, along with some supplies such as rope, chains, knives, flashlights, and a few other things. In the corner some things stood out like if Razor was to enter the general public in nothing but shorts. It wasn't like they weren't weapons; it was just the fact that they were a little too familiar. There were a pair of swords, a set of sias, some nunchucks and a six foot staff.

Alex smiled and looked around again. She went to a box stuffed under a shelf holding a bazooka. Opening the box she found some small metal cubes. She picked one up. It was just barely smaller than her palm with a small button on the top. Pushing the button the top of the cube opened up to show a blue light glowing from within.

"Eli," she said over her shoulder. "Any sign of someone coming?"

There was a short pause before Eli said "I don't think so. I can't hear anything."

"Good, come here."

Eli walked across the room to where Alex crouched.

"Here take this and grab as many things as you can reach. I don't care what it is, just grab it, okay?" Alex asked handing Eli the cube. The younger of the two nodded. "Especially the bomb equipment," Alex added and Eli smiled.

Eli got to work grabbing the weapons her small body could reach and put them near the blue light, the mechanism inside the cube acting as a portal into another dimension so that the inside was a whole lot bigger than the outside along with the opening. With this little genius invention the entire room could be packed away into a half pound cube and fit into your pocket. It was great for soldiers on the field, especially the ones with little space, or couldn't afford to be carrying very much with them because of space and weight problems.

While the actual child got to work Alex went to the corner with her friends' weapons. She touched the staff, running her fingers over the purple wrap around the middle. The next thing she was going to do was find Donnie somewhere inside this scientific hellhole.

Remembering that they didn't have much time she found relief that the belts and elbow and knee pads were also in the corner including four colored masks, a bandana and a ribbon. She scooped them up to take to Eli to add to the cube, not bothering with the ribbon for the moment. Next she collected the sias, nunchucks and staff and added those to the cube. Going back for the katanas she chose these to wear, putting them crossing on her back like how Leo wore them, careful that they didn't move too roughly over her shoulder blades. She knew she was only going to fight with one sword if she had to, but she felt safer having both.

Smiling about having the weapons, she started to help collect the rest of the weapons not only to share with the rest of the experiments when she got back to the holding room but also so that the muscle men didn't have them at their disposal. In all logic the creators couldn't use them if the creations had them.

When the room was successfully empty of anything harmful Alex put the full cube in her pocket and led Eli cautiously out of the weaponry and started out the door. Alex looked at the unconscious muscle man. "Stay."

They walked quickly down the hall not sure where Donnie would be held. In truth he could be anywhere from an examination table, the mutation vats, or even the dissection jars.

Alex tightened her fists. If Ambrose had done anything to him she was going to tear that so-called-man to shreds. It didn't matter how but she was going to, and she knew Raph would be right there the whole time.

They reached the intersection and Alex looked around. This one had only two options to go; a hall on the left and one on the right. The decision depended on where they were going to look first.

Eli, who had wiggled her hand into Alex's again, pulled Alex to the right hall. "Let's try this way."

"Any specific reason?" Alex asked.

Eli shrugged. "Just a feeling."

Alex shrugged too. That was as good a reason as any.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Bomber punched the wall for the hundredth time in the pass half hour.

Damn it, he thought angrily. I just had to fall asleep. I just had to tell her to go ask that damned Alex to teach her Morse code. Damn stupid Morse code. Now she's probably in some mutation thing and I'll never see her again. "Damn it," he said aloud and punched the wall again.

While Bomber damn-ed everything Dev sat in the same alcove in the corner above Psych's blankets, legs kicking lightly over the edge, his heels bouncing off the wall. Angry annoyance ebbed at his mind, tightening his muscles in the need to hit something. He sat there as the feelings bubbled inside him until he finally had to move. With a twitch of the wings he jumped down and easily landed on his feet.

With crossed arms he started to pace back and forth along the wall. How could he be so stupid? To think for a minute that he actually started to trust that _she _wouldn't just leave them behind against if she got the chance. For second he actually believed what that deserter said. In anger he turned and kicked the wall so hard he jumped back in pain. "Ow," he muttered standing on one foot.

Doc shook her head; if either him or Bomber break something she wasn't going to help them. Most of the time she didn't take pity on self inflicted injuries, especially when it came to punching and kicking walls out of anger.

In the corner Gorf was actually sitting on the floor resting his chin on his knees as the question shared by so many floated in his mind. Had Alex done it again, escaped just like last time? Was she gone for good now? The frog-boy looked over at Razor, then at the sleeping Psych. His eyes slid over the turtles and their supposed human brother. Would she leave them behind to save herself?

"Bomber knock it off," Razor said as the explosion specialist once again punched the wall.

"Oh I'll knock something off if I ever get my hands on that… that…" he looked down at his shaking fist going through his vocabulary, finally he gave up and punched the wall. "There I can't even think of a word."

"Abandoning deserter," Deb supplied with crossed arms.

Razor stood up with clenched fists. He had to stand there a moment to get his balance at a head rush before saying "Not true!"

"Oh yeah?" Dev challenged. "Look around you," he threw an arm out as if to show the room. "Do you see her?"

"No," Bomber answered for him.

In their own fits of anger the three boys walked up to each other, Bomber and Dev against Razor, the smell of a fight rising in the air around them.

"So what?" Razor challenged.

"She's not coming back," Dev said.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure that out," Bomber said. "She left once, she did it again. It took her ten years to come back and that was by force. Do you think she'll be come back on her own now?"

"Yes I do," Razor said.

"Get your head out of the river mud, fish breath," Dev spat. "She's just like a soldier; she saw an opportunity and took it."

"Alex _is_ just like a soldier: never leaves a man behind," Razor defended.

"Well she did ten years ago," Bomber said. "And experiments never change." He stepped forward and jabbed Razor in the chest with a finger. "Face it fish boy, your girl is gone, and she took mine with her."

Razor brushed the hand away and parted his lips in a sharp toothed snarl.

"What's worse is I actually started to believe her," Dev said. "Like she was actually planning to come back, what a load of crap."

"Was- is not!" Razor all but yelled at them.

"Ah, are we intruding on your safety in lies?" Bomber mocked. "Open your eyes Razor, Alex is as gone as a used bomb, she's not coming back and there's nothing you can do about it. She's a deserter, always has been always will be."

"Shut up," Razor growled, his black eyes telling he was about to fall over the edge.

Then Bomber just had to say it.

"Make me."

No one had seen the three boys move so fast. One minutes they were standing there arguing over the loyalty of someone that wasn't even there, the next they're in a tangle of black, grey, and white limbs on the floor. Not only was the fight unfair with two-on-one, but it was six hands VS. Razor's two along with his teeth. It wasn't hard for Dev and Bomber to hold Razor down. To physically get their point across Dev held Razor's arms back and Bomber dug a knuckle in the aquatic technician's side, right into one of the gills. Razor gasped, it wasn't as painful as a blade would be but it still hurt. In retaliation he struggled to get Dev off him so he could bite Bomber, but before the fight could progress the three boys were ripped apart.

As they struggled to get at one another Mikey held Razor back, Leo held on to Dev, and it took both Raph and Gorf to hold down Bomber.

"There's no reason to be fighting," Leo said as he struggled to hold onto Dev from behind while the boy's wings pushed back against him.

"There's plenty reason," Razor argued. "Just let me take a small chunk outta 'em!"

"Guys, Al wouldn't just leave us here," Mikey said. "She'll be back."

"Idiotic fantasies," Bomber growled. "Believe what you like, it doesn't make anything true."

While insults started flying between the three, Bomber and Dev ganging up on Razor, Psych rolled over in his sleep. At some instances, when his sleep isn't deep enough, feelings and thoughts from those around him had tendencies to leak inside his mind playing with his own feelings and thoughts. At the moment anger, frustration, worry, despair, and a number other negative feelings were creating a hell of a current inside his sea of thoughts, which was starting to create one big headache and a person that uses their mind as much as he did did not cope well with headaches. Usually he would stand on the neutral ground and try to finish this argument without getting angry or taking sides, but no one would like to be woken up this way, and he had actually been having a dream for once too.

He tried to ignore it, he really did, but the throbbing pain was still there.

The boy's grey eyes snapped open and actually glared at the window in front of him. He shoved the blanket that he had at some time covered himself up with off and got to his feet to walk over to them. With his mess of hair hanging over his eyes no one noticed that the ancient five-year-old was just a little ticked off until they heard the first two words echo in their minds.

_Shut. Up._

The arguing ceased for a moment in surprise.

_Dev, Bomber, Razor shut your blathering mouths. It's understandable that you three are angry, probably feel abandoned or betrayed, or anything else you're feeling but that doesn't mean you have to _**share them**! _All three of you are giving me an exploding headache. If you want to act like you were just created then fine, I'll treat you as such. Leo, Raph, Mikey, Gorf let go of them._

With everyone's mouth glued shut at the surprising out burst from the normally calm kid they obeyed without question. The three that had been fighting just stood there in shock.

_Razor, go stand in the southwest corner._

The look of shock on Razor's face vanished at what Psych was doing; of course he had to protest. "But-"

Now!

Razor actually flinched and turned to go stand in the empty corner by the window.

_Dev: northwest._

Grumbling something under his breath Dev turned and walked to the designated corner.

_I don't care if this is stupid but it's perfectly fair and unless you want me to handle this the more mental way you'll do as I say. Bomber: northeast corner._

With crossed arms Bomber stomped off.

When the boys were in their spots of punishment Psych continued, addressing all of them. _Sit._ The three's legs automatically collapsed and they sat huddled like angry toddlers forcefully obeying their parent. _Now I don't want any of you to talk to, look at, gesture or any other kind of interaction with each other until I say you can get up. And remember: I may not be able to see or hear all but I always know what you're thinking so don't try to disobey me. _Psych turned away rubbing his forehead. It was going to take a while for the headache to pass.

Gorf took a step forward. "Psych, are you okay?"

The boy in question walked back to his corner rubbing his eyes. He practically fell over and pulled a mound of blankets over himself before answering simply, _No._

There was a moment of silence as the room stayed in shock. Psych had never actually gotten mad before, he was always so calm. Why was everything the experiments knew suddenly changing?!

Suddenly the silence was destroyed with an electronic scream. It was muffled by the walls of steel but the escape siren was still loud enough for all to hear.

Psych groaned and burrowed deeper under the blankets.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--… ...--... ...--...

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Alex," a small voice quickly said in frightened guilt as two figures shot down the blank hallways.

"Eli its fine, you didn't know they were down this hall no one would have, just don't slow down!" Alex yelled as she looked over her shoulder. Through the flashing red light and the earsplitting scream that was the escape siren a small cloud of bug-robots chased the two. Even with Leo's swords she wouldn't be able to take them all down.

The whole thing had happened so suddenly. They had entered yet another intersection, checking doors along the way none of them holding a mutant turtle when buzzing filled the air. Suddenly robots seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and so here they were running down the halls going deaf.

Alex looked ahead and skidded to a stop before running into a wall as the hall sharply turned. Cursing the architecture of the labs for making her lose speed and milliseconds as the robots got ever nearer; she quickly turned with the hall and ran, Eli just in front of her.

Then Eli must have stepped wrong or something because the girl went down and Alex had to jump to keep from stepping on her. Stumbling Alex tried to stop and turn around. Eli was holding her leg. Alex ran to her side fully aware of the robots coming right for them.

"What's wrong?"

Eli sniffed. "My ankle hurts."

Alex looked down. Sure enough the ankle was starting to swell; it was sprained. Alex's mouth thinned into a line. There wasn't enough time for her to pick the girl up and run and still be able to outgo the robots.

With a deep breath Alex pulled one of the swords out and took a fighting stance. She vaguely knew how to handle a sword from watching Leo and Master Splinter quickly going over it as a side lesson one day. Alex had been skeptical about learning it sure that she'll always have a weapon right behind her. God she was happy Splinter was persistent and prepared for anything.

The robots were on them in moments. Alex did her best to slice the robots, trying to put each one out of the air with one hit but there were so many with so many weapons. They surrounded her but Alex stood her ground and refused to let any of the mechanical bugs get lower than her knees as Eli curled up on the floor underneath her.

There wasn't room for mistakes in a situation like this, but even with that knowledge there was always at least one slip up. A robot got behind Alex and struck her near the base of the neck. An itchy burning pain made itself known but Alex did her best to ignore it and cut the attacking robot in half. Just then a robot with a blade came forward. Alex just barely had enough time to notice it and lean to the side but she didn't completely dodge; the robot managed a slice on her shoulder. Hot blood seeped down her arm. Knowing just how close that was to her throat Alex got angry. She wasn't going down this way, not before she destroyed Ambrose.

Things started to blur together as the body moved of its own accord as the sound of metal hitting metal rang out under the screech of the siren. The red flashing light seemed to drive the instinctive skills on making the smooth movements look choppy like the fighter was stuck in a video where the viewer was watching it frame by frame.

Then suddenly everything seemed to stop. The siren was still going, the lights still flashing, but the flailing blade of a katana finally stopped and hung at the end of a limp arm as sparking debris littered the floor around them.

Alex put a hand to her head, talk about a head rush…

She was pulled back to the present by Eli tugging on her pant leg. Alex looked down.

Eli looked up at her and screamed "Buzzing!" to be heard over the siren.

That was all Alex needed to hear. She sheathed the sword, scooped up Eli in her arms and ran down the hall, more robots sure to round that corner back there any moment now.

As she was carried Eli pushed her hands over her ears. But no matter how much her ears hurt her eyes were always unusually sharp. As they ran down the hall she was able to catch two parallel lines pass. "Door!" she yelled.

Alex stopped a moment, she turned around and was about to keep on turning when she saw a second wave of bug-robots coming at them from down the hall. Looking behind her for maybe a way out, deciding to give up on the door she saw even more robots.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Alex hissed. She looked around for that door and saw it just a few feet back where they had come. She had to hurry before the robots got to it first. After fishing the keycard out of her pocket she jammed it into the side of the door - the only other way to open it besides the hand scanners. The door slid open and Alex jumped inside.

When the door slid shut the siren suddenly shut up leaving a ringing in their ears. The room must be important to be soundproof like that so Alex looked around and faltered for a moment at her surroundings. This was the examination room. She recognized all the equipment lining the walls. The devices and everything, while in the middle of the room was an operating table. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw who was strapped to it.

"D-Don?" she whispered suddenly out of it. It wasn't right but somehow the scene looked so natural. Someone non-human, something so mutant it could have been an alien on an operating table. It was a classic scene out of a Sci-fi movie inside the scientist's lab. But at the same time this was different. That wasn't some alien that was Donnie, her friend, the one that had bandaged her before she was even conscious to properly meet, the one that had medically helped with her broken leg. He shouldn't be here. Him nor his brothers, they didn't belong in her problems, they shouldn't be mixed up in all of this.

Again Alex was quickly pulled back into reality by Eli pulled on her shirt.

"Alex?"

Alex shook her head and went to a lever on the wall. Yanking it down a locking mechanism for the door was turned on. Then, just to be sure, she pulled out one of the swords on her back and ran it through the wall beside the lever, hopefully jamming the controls, or disconnecting some wire so the door would stay closed.

Then she went to the table and stood beside it. The mutant turtle seemed to be in one piece but Alex didn't like the fact that he was out cold, or that scar on the side of his head. She looked at the thick metal bands around his ankles and wrists, how could she get those off?

Remembering that inside the cube there should be some kind of laser pen or something; Alex sat Eli down on the edge of the table beside Don's right forearm. As she dug through the contents of the cube holding the entire weaponry room she said "Eli, try and wake him up for me. Don't worry, this is Donnie one of my friends, he's real nice and really smart." While Eli tried waking Don by basically just shaking his shoulder Alex finally found the laser pen.

It was an actual push top pen, but if the bottom was twisted a small two inch red laser extended. It was supposed to be strong enough to cut through any metal, hopefully that was true.

Being careful not to cut flesh Alex pulled the laser through the metal bands, two times on each so she could just pull them completely off the table never to be used again.

Don still hadn't woken up and they didn't have much time as the bug-robots outside started pounding on the door, they were probably just ramming it like the stupid robots they were but it wasn't long before the one with the bomb showed up.

"Come on Don," Alex said keeping an anxious eye on the door. "Nap time's over, don't tell me I have to carry you too." There was still no response from the big green body. "Come on Donnie, you gotta wake up," now she was pleading. "Raph's gonna kill me if you don't."

When there wasn't a hint of life Alex was getting worried. Going to a last resort the girl walked around the table and climbed onto the edge sitting on her knees. Leaning towards the head she raised a hand, said "This might sting a little," and slapped him across the face.

On impact not only did Alex hurt her hand as a stinging sensation took her palm, but the body before her jerked.

Donatello blinked his eyes open and put a hand to his pained cheek as a red mark started to appear. It took him a moment to realize where he was; when he did he quickly sat up almost knocking Alex off the table in the process. After a few seconds noticing that nothing was happening he took in who was in the room with him.

"A-Alex?" he said slowly in the confusion that normally followed just waking up in the labs.

"Donnie!" Alex exclaimed happily. "You're still alive! Man the guys are going to be so happy to see you."

"Where are we?" Don asked.

"On an operating table with robots right outside the door wanting to get in," Alex shrugged like this situation was perfectly normal "which means we need to get moving." She jumped onto the floor and hesitated. "Wait, I have a very important question, and I need you to answer seriously."

"What?"

"What's two times two?"

"What?" Don repeated with more disbelief than question.

"Just give me the answer."

"Four."

Alex gave a breath of relief. "Okay, you still have a functioning brain, that's good. Now let's go."

"Wait, Alex what's going on?" Don asked he had a hundred questions but could see they must be in some kind of hurry. "Just brief me on the basics or something."

Alex huffed, every second they stayed put the closer those robots were through that door. "Okay, we are in an examination room inside the labs. This is Eli," Eli waved "she's an experiment like me. Leo, Raph and Mikey are with the other experiments. Now outside that door there are a bunch of robots and if we don't get out of here Eli's going to the mutation vats, I'm gonna have hell to pay, and you might be on your way to dissection."

Don blinked. "Okay," he said slowly. "So how do we get out of here?"

"We could use the vents," Eli said pointing to a counter by the wall. It was covered in wires, tools and notes.

"Vents? This place has vents?" Alex asked.

"Yep," Eli nodded. "Razor used them once, and Psych somewhat knew about them. I think Gorf accidentally found the blueprints of the labs with vents one time too, he got in bad trouble for it."

Alex went over to the counter Eli had pointed at. "Well I don't think this place has an oxygen generator, so I guess vents would make sense…" She looked at where the counter met the wall, sure enough there seemed to be a small gap. Fully conscious of the robots still trying to get the door open she called Don over. "Hey you think you could help me move this?"

Don got off the table and went over to her, only to find the gap was too narrow for them to fit their fingers in. "Maybe if we had a lever or something small enough to fit and long enough for us to pull back on?" he suggested.

Alex snapped her fingers. "Oh, duh." She pulled out one of the swords. "I hope it's strong enough not to snap."

"Leo's been through a lot with those, why do you have them?"

"They were in storage, I'm taking them back to him," Alex said as she slid the sword behind the counter. With their hands sharing the handle, and Alex's foot planted on the wall, they pulled back. It took precious time, and Alex was afraid the blade would either bend or snap, but finally the counter started to slide forward with a horrible screeching sound of metal scratching metal. Alex pulled the sword out and looked behind the counter. Just as Eli had said there was a square ventilation opening on the wall. "Okay, we just need to pull it out a little farther."

While Alex and Don worked on the counter Eli sat trying to ignore her throbbing ankle. As she looked around trying to keep her mind off the pain, and of what it was like to be mutated, she looked around the room. Her eyes went to the door just in time to see a dent start to appear, the robots were breaking through. "Um, guys…" she said worriedly scooting sideways on the table to put as much distance between her and the door that was about to give way in a matter of seconds.

"Just a little farther and we should be able to fit," Don said as he pulled.

Alex pressed against the wall and was able to squeeze her body behind the counter. Using her uncut shoulder she pushed against the wall behind her, as they pushed and pulled the counter moved a few more inches. When she could Alex twisted around and found the opening to the vent had a barred cover.

Okay god, I don't hate you so much anymore, Alex thought as she found that the cover came off by simply sliding it to the side. "Right," she said straightening up and stepped out from behind the counter. "Now that we have a means of escape we can get out of here, but first Eli has a twisted ankle."

Don looked at the little kid on the table. Eli looked down at her hurt leg. It was only a minor sprain, but it was an injury nevertheless. "I could wrap it if we had anything on hand."

Alex quickly looked around, noticing the dents forming in the door; it wasn't going to hold out much longer. In the movies the hero would forfeit his shirt as a bandage, too bad the only ones in the room with shirts were female but… what about the lower half of clothes?

"Would a pant leg work?"

"I guess it could," Don nodded.

With the pen laser in hand Alex cut a hole in her pant leg just above the knee. Tugging down on the material it ripped free. She pulled it down over her foot and put one of the katanas through it to turn it into a flat rectangle of material.

Don took the makeshift bandage and wrapped Eli's ankle.

Alex put the sword in its sheath and picked Eli up. Carrying her behind the counter Alex helped the girl into the vent before climbing in herself. Don went in behind them. The vent was fairly big; they could sit on their knees without hitting their heads on the ceiling if they slouched a little.

As an afterthought Don reached behind him and slid the cover back over the opening.

"Come on, I'd say we have a few more seconds before the robots get through that door," Alex said. "Let's make the best of it."

The three crawled along the vents with Alex leading the way and Don taking up the rear, the two of them wielding flashlights that Alex had pulled from the cube. They tried not to make too much noise in the echoing tunnels. After some minutes Alex called a stop. When they didn't hear any buzzing coming in after them Alex and Eli gave breaths of relief and they continued.

The next ten minutes were spent by Alex following gut feelings on when to turn as intersection came up until finally she sat down and leaned back against the vent wall. "Okay guys, I'm sorry but I'm completely lost."

"I wish I could help but we're in a vent with no kind of technology," Don said facing the facts.

"Actually we have an entire arsenal in my pocket," Alex said. "Though I don't think weapons would help much at the moment." She rubbed the back of her neck not worried about her shoulder since it had healed a while ago.

Eli sat beside Alex and leaned her head against the older girl's arm. "I miss Bomber."

Alex put an arm around Eli. "So this is how it all ends, lost to die in a ventilation system."

"Such positive thoughts," Don said as he too sat down.

Alex sighed. "You know out of everything I'm sure life's put either of us through… I really did not see this coming."

Don gave a small smile. "Well you know when you're a mutant ninja turtle or a bat-winged, ax-tailed experiment anything can happen. Speaking of wings…" he started to ask why she was hiding them.

"Yeah, I don't have them anymore."

"What?" Don asked looking over at her.

"They got cut off as a punishment for escaping from my creator," Alex said quietly.

Don looked both stunned and revolted - an understandable reaction.

"Like I've told you guys," Alex continued. "The labs are wrong on so many levels it could never be funny. I know you're a man- er turtle of science Don, but-"

"The line has to be drawn somewhere," Don finished for her.

"This is why I don't like getting people in my business, something always happens." Alex looked down at Eli, remembering that promise she had made. A sad smile flickered on her face. "Heh,"

"What?" Don asked.

"It's stupid but… I still owe Mikey those pancakes from a lifetime ago."

A silence fell over the three. It was so quiet the lack of sound seemed to ring in their ears.

After a century of just sitting there Alex looked at the turtle, her eyes falling on the mark on his scalp. "Hey, what happened to give you that scar?"

"What scar?" Don asked.

"On your head," Alex pointed with a lazy finger at him. Then to indicate the area she touched where the scar would be on her head. Don put a hand to his head to feel for the mark.

"I honestly don't know. Actually, the more I think about it, I… can't… really remember much of anything except for waking up in that room. I could have been there for a few hours alone, and then some guys in lab coats came and gave me a shot in the arm. From there… there's just… nothing besides waking up to you _slapping me_."

"Yeah," Alex said slowly. "Sorry about that, but you were just lying there without as much as a twitch, I was expecting the worst."

"Well, thanks for thinking of me. Um… do you know anything about my brothers?"

"Raph and Leo are fine," Alex said happy to give some kind of good news. "Uh- you probably wouldn't be able to recognize Mikey, though."

"What?" Don quickly asked, concern and a hint of fear in his eyes.

"He's perfectly healthy and all that," Alex swiftly assured. "He's just… a little different in appearance… is all."

Don sighed. "Man, what I would give to see them."

"Don't say that," Alex said warningly. "You never know, in this place you just might end up paying something, and believe me some prices may be worth it for loved ones but that doesn't mean you want to actually pay them."

While the older two talked Eli had closed her eyes. Bomber was like her big protective brother, and she missed him. She thought about the big holding room for them, with Bomber and Gorf there to play with her, it was a safe zone, especially with Psych. Even though Psych was even smaller than she was, he seemed to take care of everyone by working out arguments, doing his best to keep the muscle men at bay, explaining things to the newest experiments… if all the experiments were actually related somehow Psych would defiantly be the dad. She wondered what he was doing right now. Probably sleeping, he slept a lot.

_Not recently…_

Eli blinked and looked around without moving. Nothing was there.

Psych? She thought.

_Hi Eli… _The voice sounded distant. At the end of a sentence it would fade away like it was struggling to stay online.

You sound tired.

_I am, and I have a bad headache so I can't talk for very long… My connection to anyone's mind is weak at the moment so I have to make this quick…_

How'd you find me? Eli asked.

_Bomber's worried about you, his thoughts helped me know what to look for, and you were thinking of me which made it all the more easier… But like I said, this needs to be fast, I don't know how much longer I can keep talking… I just need you to answer a few things for me…_

Yeah?

_Is Alex there?..._

Yep, and so is this other guy. He looks kind of like Leo and Raph but kind of different too. I don't know, but I like him, he's nice.

_That's good… Where are you exactly?..._

Sitting in the vents.

_Okay… Now Eli, I need you to go through you're memories for me, picture everything that's happened to you try to be as accurate on every detail… Do this for me?..._

Okay.

Eli closed her eyes again and tried to remember everything she could since Alex had rescued her from the muscle men. She did her best to remember everything with every possible detail that her eyes had taken in, remembering every twist and turn they had taken while in the halls and vents. When she finished where they were sitting down she thought: Done.

_Thank… you… _The voice sounded even farther away than before. It was more like a whisper, fading away in the middle of sentences and coming back weakly. _Now… I'm sending you… a map of the vents… I don't know… how long I can keep it… visible so I need you to… memorize it the best… you can… okay?..._

Okay, ready.

Inside the girl's head a map of the labs appeared before her mind's eye. There was an X which must be where she was located in the vents. She scanned the map, concentrating on the quickest route that would lead to the large room with everyone else. Soon the image started to fade until it was completely gone.

_Did you… get that?..._

Yep.

_Good girl…_

The voice faded away and when it didn't come back Eli figured Psych must have fallen asleep or something. She opened her eyes and pulled away from Alex. She got to her hands and knees and started crawling down the metal tunnel. She stopped a few feet away and looked behind her. "Come on guys."

"Eli what are you doing?" Don asked.

"I know the way back," Eli said happily.

"How?" Alex asked.

"Psych told me, now come on." With that Eli turned back around and started going again.

Don and Alex looked at each other.

"Psych told…? What?" Don asked confusedly.

Alex got to her hands and knees to follow. "I'll explain on the way, come on."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

As he stared at the wall like a small child, a war raged in Razor's head. He wouldn't believe Alex would actually leave, he just couldn't see her abandon not only him but Psych too along with Leo, Raph and Mikey. But even with that feeling what Bomber and Dev had said was getting to him. If Alex hadn't of left then where was she?

Yes Razor felt guilty for accusing Alex of abandonment – again – but she was still gone.

In his emotional turmoil Razor needed something to mess with. Looking at his still bandaged limbs he started to unwrap one hand. When the grey was visible he stared at the new lines crisscrossing over his skin. The muscles tightened into a fist.

Damn machines, he thought. Even though he was a technician he preferred tearing things apart rather than building or fixing them. Blame the shark genes, or his history with machines but he still hated-

Suddenly his year jerked.

What the? He thought and listened.

_Thud_

"Okay…" he muttered and looked around. Where was it coming from?

_Thud_

Razor closed his eyes and concentrated. When the next thud sounded he found it coming from the wall? To investigate he cautiously looked behind him, seeing that the mound of blankets wasn't moving he carefully got to his feet. Trying not to think about what he was doing, he moved along the wall straining to hear something.

Almost halfway across the room there was another thud.

Before the boy could raise a fist to knock back he received a thud of his own on the forehead and landed on his butt. Blinking away tears of surprise he found a lone shoe on the floor between his legs. Looking up he saw a smiling Dev trying to hold back a laugh so he didn't wake Psych up.

Grumbling something crossly under his breath Razor knocked on the wall: duh duh-da duh duh

_Thud thud_

Looking first cautiously at the pile of blankets, then smugly at Bomber and Dev Razor rapped his knuckles on the metal: .- .-.. . -..- ..--..

.. - -- .-.. -.. -.-- -- ..- .. .-- -- ..- .-.. -.. -. - .-.. . .- ...- . -.-- -- ..- .- --. .- .. -.

Razor smiled, though it faded when the next message came.

... - .- -. -.. -... .- -.-. -.- . -..- .--. .-.. -- ... .. -- -.

With some confusion Razor stumbled away from the wall.

"Hey," Gorf said, materializing beside the shark-boy. "You're supposed to be in trouble."

"Not now Gorf," Razor said impatiently.

"But-" Gorf started when he was cut off by an explosion. The sudden noise ripped many out of sleep, and attracted eyes like a magnet. When the smoke cleared Gorf was in Razor's arms and a nice sized hole was in the wall. Coughing sounded from the hole and a figure emerged.

"-_cough-_ God –_cough-_ out of all the –_cough_- chemicals you couldn't come up _–cough- _with something with a little _–cough- _less smoke?" Alex choked as she climbed out of the vents. The girl got about three steps into the room before she was shoved back, grabbed by the throat and pushed up the wall until her feet left the floor.

Razor dropped Gorf and ran forward. "Bomber let her go!"

Bomber ignored him and started squeezing.

Alex grabbed the hand around her neck. "Shouldn't you… be helping someone?"

Just as she said it a smaller figure appeared in the hole. Dev, who had come to fend off Razor, helped Eli out of the wall.

Bomber reluctantly let go of Alex and picked Eli up. "I'm sorry," he whispered in her ear.

"It's okay," Eli whispered back. "Besides," she said happily. "I met a new friend."

Before the third figure could even stand up straight after climbing out of the vents, Mikey knocked him down in a massive hug yelling "Donnie!"

"Mikey?" Don asked after getting a look at his younger brother.

"Yeah," Alex said rubbing the back of her neck. "I told you you wouldn't recognize him." As Don's brothers greeted him happily, Raph getting a little ticked off with the scar, Alex turned to Bomber. "And what was that for?!"

"We thought you abandoned us," Dev shrugged like their harsh actions were perfectly understandable.

"So you strangle me when I come back?"

"You were forced to come back after trying to escape without anyone," Dev said.

"But you brought Eli back, so I guess its fine," Bomber said.

Even though she was off the hook Alex felt a need to defend herself. "I wasn't trying to abandon anyone. I went to go rescue Eli and pick up a few things."

"Like what?" Razor asked.

Alex stuffed a hand in her pocket. "Oh I don't know…" She produced the cube. Bomber grabbed it with a free hand before anyone else could.

Dev quickly swiped it and held it up. "No way," he said then scowled as Razor stole it.

"A storage cube?! What do you have in- hey!" he exclaimed when Dev took it back, only to have Alex smack it out of his hand.

"I found it, I open it." She was about to press the button when the cube disappeared.

"What is it?" Mikey asked holding it close to his face.

"Lemme see," Raph grabbed it before Mikey could stop him. He held it out of reach when the youngest tried to take it back.

"Not fair!"

"Says you," Raph said with an actual smile when he gave an exclamation of surprise as something wet and slimy touched his hand. "Gross!" he said in disgust looking at his wet, empty hand. He wiped the slime off on Mikey's shirt.

"Hey!" Mikey exclaimed jumped back and looked down at his shirt for any wet spots.

"I'm glad things haven't changed too much," Don said.

"Where'd the cube go?" Dev asked looking around until his eyes caught Gorf's bulging cheeks. "Aw Gorf you didn't…"

Gorf let his frog tongue hang out to reveal the cube wrapped in it.

"God Gorf you're getting spit on it," Dev complained.

Gorf dropped the cube into his hand. "Guys, let a technician handle the technology," he said and opened the cube. Reaching a hand down into the light he pulled out a long wooden "Stick?" he asked.

Don stepped forward and grabbed it. "Its a Bo staff, not a stick."

"Right… anyway," Gorf put his hand back in the cube and pulled out a pair of sias. "Awesome!"

"Gimme those," Raph said and roughly swiped the weapons from the four fingered hand.

"Oh, speaking of weapons," Alex said and slipped the katanas off her back. "Here Leo, I think these are yours."

"Where'd you find them?" Leo asked with a smile at his trusted swords.

"In a weaponry along with a few other things," Alex shrugged. "Which reminds me…" She went over to Gorf and took the cube trying not to think about his gross slobber covering the cube's surface. Reaching into its immeasurable depths she pulled out Mikey's nunchucks and passed them to him.

"My babies!" Mikey exclaimed and happily accepted them, hugging them to his chest.

Alex dug around for a moment more. This time when she pulled her hand out she had four colored masks, a bandana, and a ribbon, along with some belts and pads. Now done with the cube she gave it to Gorf. "Okay, everything else are guns and stuff, try to distribute them somewhat evenly."

While Gorf laid out the numerous types of weapons on the floor, experiments coming to investigate and then quickly pick up what interested them, some where skeptical on whether or not they should even have the weapons, others ready to put up a fight if someone tried to take them away. Alex gave the guys their masks back along with Razor's bandana. "I didn't want to say this but you guys just look weird without your masks."

Now that the turtles were happy to have their things back, though Mikey only put his belt on as a place to put his nunchucks, the question remained standing: How do they get out of this place?

The same was going through Alex's mind and she opened her mouth to say that now they had an opening to the vents when, to her utter amazement, the metal seemed to grow or regenerate and the hole was quickly sealed. Now that just wasn't fair! In frustration she started to rub the back of her neck again.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Don asked.

"What?" Alex asked back.

"Rubbing you neck."

Alex shrugged "It just itches."

After putting his bandana back safely on his head, determined to never take it off again, Razor stepped behind her. "Let me see," he said and moved her hand. "That's spot's awfully red, Alex."

"That's because I've been scratching it, seaweed head. Besides, it's probably a burn mark; I had a bad run in with the bug-robots out in the hallways. One got my shoulder too, but its fine."

Razor was doubtful. In a place like the labs you never just assumed something was fine. "Hey Doc, come here." He called the field doctor over after she fixed Eli's ankle that Bomber had finally noticed. "Take a look at this, what do you think it is?"

"It's nothing," Alex assured them.

The look Doc gave though contradicted the girl's words. "Alex, when'd this happen?"

"I don't know, fifteen, twenty, thirty minutes maybe?" Alex guessed. "But it's just a burn, that's all." The silence wasn't comforting. "Uh, Doc?" she asked turning around to a face of concern. "It… is just a burn mark… right?"

Doc shook her head biting her lower lip. "Alex, that's an injection site."

* * *

Injection? With what?!

Hoo, man this chapter was long. I was going to cut it and make it two cahpters but I couldn't decide where so I kept this long. Oh well...

Oh and fangirls you can put your flamethrowers and machine guns down for as you can see all four of the turtles are are perfectly fine and together again! (even though Mikey's human...)

Please review!


	22. PostCreation Mutation

**Chapter Twenty-Two**

**Post-Creation Mutation**

"It's not an injection site," Alex said shaking her head. "A needle never got near me." Razor cleared his throat and pointed towards the floor. Alex looked down to see the dart still in the sole of her shoe. "That's the only time, and look it didn't even touch my skin."

Doc looked at Alex like a patient not coping well with their diagnosis. "Okay Alex," she said with a sigh. "Since you seem to know more than I do about the body and the reactions it gives after something happens, tell me, if it is a simple burn mark then why hasn't it healed yet?"

Alex opened her mouth to defensively retort only to close it. She opened her mouth again but realized she didn't have an answer. Subconsciously her hand went back up to her neck to rub the spot in question. Finally she stubbornly said "It's not an injection site."

"If it is-" Leo started.

"Which it's not!" Alex interrupted.

Leo continued with his question. "What'll happen?"

Because Alex already knew but refused to believe it, she put her hands over her ears and walked away. Razor watched her go with a frown.

"It can't be poison because it's taking too long to show," Doc answered. "And knowing the scientists the best and worst bet are mutating genes."

"I don't get it," Don said. "They take her wings and tail as a punishment, right?" Doc nodded in conformation. "So what's the point, won't mutation just give them back?"

"That's not the point," Razor said turning back to them. "Ambrose is trying to break a rebel; post-creation mutations, without the supervision of the scientists and their precautions with the mutations vats, are not for enhancing an experiment to function better and be more useful, they're punishments. It's happened before, and it's never pretty."

"And that's beside the mental risk," Doc added. "The mutations that come from a shot have a high tendency to either completely lose their mind or just go brain dead from the stress."

"But Al'll make it fine, right?" Mikey asked.

Doc and Razor looked at each other, then at the floor. The silence wasn't reassuring. Doc glanced over at the girl with her forehead against the large window. "There…" she started slowly. "Is a small chance it's only poison."

At the window Alex hugged her gut as a lead block settled in the pit of her stomach. She was sure the feeling was just from the worry that she might be injected, but there was always the possibility…

No, she thought. It's just in my head. I'm making these feelings up, that's all. And my shoulder blades only itch because that's perfectly normal.

Turning away from the window Alex tried to scratch the shoulder blades but the itch was just barely out of reach.

"You okay?" a voice asked behind her.

Alex turned around to find Gorf hanging upside down, feet planted on the wall to keep him up. "My back just itches, is all."

Gorf dropped down, landing on his feet with practiced ease. "I could scratch it," he said helpfully.

Alex turned back around. "Just be careful they're still a little sore." Gorf was careful as he started scratching the twin itches. At first it felt good, then suddenly a pain spiked from her back and Alex jumped and quickly stepped away from Gorf's touch.

"Oh, sorry."

"No, it wasn't you. I uh- gotta go," Alex said and quickly went over to Doc. "Not that I'm admitting anything, but what's the first sign of mutation?"

"I guess it would vary from person to person," Doc said.

"Generalize it!" Alex exclaimed as a dull pain started to pulse out from that lead block in her gut.

Doc looked up at the ceiling in thought. "I suppose physical pains would make sense."

Check… Alex thought miserably. She opened her mouth to ask if there was anything more specific when it hit. A sudden sharp pain like a knife stabbing at her insides came from nowhere. Alex clutched her stomach as she fell to her knees.

Mikey and Razor simultaneously knelt down, the same pointless question on their tongues "You okay?"

Before Alex could answer the knife had another go at her insides and this time it brought friends. "Ng!" was all she could reply as she clutched her middle tighter, doubling over in the hurt. A pulse started on the back of her neck where the injection site was, sweat started to form over her skin as a heat wave washed over her with each thump, each wave hotter than the last. A groan escaped her throat as the knives in her stomach had another go.

"It's starting," Doc said grabbing Razor by the arm. "I suggest we get at a distance before it progresses. A number of things can happen during, and right after a mutation, which includes attacking friends."

Razor and the turtles hesitated but reluctantly backed off and escaped to the safety of an alcove, along with most of the experiments on the ground floor.

At first it was nothing but pain and groaning while Alex's frame shook as she tried to endure it. Then the mutation moved to the mind. Her hands clutched her head as a million electric needles jabbed into her brain. The pain blocked out all possible thought, making things more difficult as her mind tried to process and understand what was happening.

As the girl bit her lip trying to cope with the pain the physical changes started. First the skin around her eyes started to darken into what looked like a streak of black over her eyes while her pupils turned into vertical slits like a cat's, as her canine teeth grew and sharpened forming fangs. Blood leaked down her chin as she continued to bite her lip from the pain. Then a ripple seemed to travel under the skin down her arms. When it got to her hands they bulged, growing bigger and darkened in color. Alex made held back sounds of pain as more ripples moved down her arms causing her hands to jerkily grow in size until a single fist was roughly the size of a brick with fingers sharply pointed into claws, while the color had changed from pale white to a midnight black. Then, as if that wasn't painful enough there was the finale as the itch returned to her shoulder blades, accompanied with a tingling in her tailbone.

With a jerk and a gasp two bulges pushed out against the back of the girl's shirt. New blood seeped out into the material as two vague black shapes started to show where the cloth was ripped. While at the base of her spine a thick black wire jerkily snaked from the top of her jeans. As the bulges grew bigger the tip of the wire grew bloody as two sheets of metal grew from the end.

Alex breathed shakily as she pushed trying to make the agony of re-growing wings and a tail end faster. "Nnnnng-hah!" she gasped as the bulges grew to their largest size though still didn't break free from her back. Battling with her mind to the point of insanity to push all the pain away Alex drew up as much strength as she could, concentrated it, and pushed.

With a final shove the tail grew to its longest length, the red-stained metal forming into the familiar double ax blades, and the black wings burst from her shirt the small bit of fur covering the wings matted down in a dark liquid as the blood dripped to the floor around her while they weakly flapped.

What some would think would be a relief wasn't as Alex felt the bones immediately start to dry. The pain stuck around as a throbbing reminder of what had just happened.

By this time the tsunamis of agony had crashed over the sleeping mind like a horrible tropical storm into waking the telepath up, and causing him to climb up out of his burrow. Now the small boy stared wide eyed at the girl, not only had the mutation given the girl back what she had lost and more but the wings, the tail blades, the claws were all bigger than what they needed to be. And all the blood was hard to miss and it was almost impossible not to become nervous, especially when Psych couldn't seem to get a grip on the quickly slipping mind.

The mutated body staggered to its feet, the legs having a hard time holding the weight up while the brain scrambled to remember what it took to stand.

The tail swung from side to side like a predator's, the claws twitched. It didn't take long for her to find Psych standing there in the corner- cornered.

Psych already knew this was bad, now it just got worse. It didn't take a telepath to see it in the eyes; this wasn't the same person from before. The black only made the red eyes stand out more while they clearly said all humanity in the mind was fading fast.

From his position Raph was able to see the look too. No, that wasn't human at all it was more… demon. Hungry, blood thirsty even.

Now he wasn't the turtle for honor and all that crap, but he knew when someone was about to do something they would highly regret later. It wasn't only that either, but even he was able to make the analogy between Psych and their sensei. In his world it would be just like him suddenly attacking Master Splinter, but Psych wasn't a professional martial artist that could defend himself. No, he had to do something.

Razor was on the same line of thoughts. The two didn't say anything to each other or anything, but when they jumped from their safe spots they landed on the ground together.

"Raph!" Leo exclaimed sternly.

"Razor!" Doc hissed.

"Alex I know what you're thinking and we both know you don't want to do it," Razor said.

Raph pulled his sias. "Don't make us stop ya, kid!"

The dark red eyes flickered between the threat and the prey. The mouth twitched into a fanged smile and Razor suddenly realized that he didn't want to find out what it was like to be on the receiving side of a bite.

In a second Alex moved with incredible speed, but up above there were some individuals waiting. The girl had decided attacking the prey but before she could get to Psych there was a flash of feathers and green.

"So predictable," Don said after him, Mikey, Leo and Dev had dropped from above and flattened the mutated experiment on the ground. Dev was straddling Alex's back keeping her wings down as Mikey sat on the small of her back while he wrestled with the lashing tail and Don kept her legs pinned down. Leo stood at the ready in case the girl did manage to break free of guys holding her down. Raph and Razor stood by tensely too, though Don had managed to predict the first move it didn't mean the blood thirsty mind was unpredictable. While, to everyone's surprise Psych walked up to the one that probably still had plans to kill him.

The boy dropped to his knees in front of the girl, put his hands on either side of her head and leaned down until they touched head-to-head. Though he knew it would be painful and dangerous on both their parts Psych sliced through the blood filled thoughts like an arrow. The girl they all knew was somewhere in this dark mess, grip swiftly slipping, and this was the last chance he had to find her. There was no point and no time to be careful with a person's complex and delicate mind; he just crashed through thoughts slicing his way ever deeper into the mind through the layers of darkness.

_Alex, stop it. This isn't who you are. You're too strong to be lost to a mutation. Now take back control of your body, I'll help you but you have to fight this, I can't. Or are you just a mindless piece of property belonging to Ambrose?_

But it hurts, a weak voice said from the bottom of the void.

_So? Everything hurts a little, the pain means you're alive._

There was no reply.

Psych's cheeks twitched in what would have been a frown. With a sigh Psych straightened and stood up. Shaking his head he turned his back on the guys struggling to keep the body down.

"Psych?" Razor said unable to imagine losing Alex this way.

The boy ignored him, turning to a last resort. The voice rang out coldly for all to hear. _Coward, deserting coward, that's hat you've been and what you are. You say you're going to get everyone out but those are just lies. I've tried to ignore the thoughts, say it wasn't true but I can't keep it up any longer. _The struggle behind him faltered for a moment; time to drive it home._ Alex face the facts, you are a _useless, deserting coward _that would save your own skin before lifting a finger for your so-called-friends. All I have to say is good riddance._

A low growl came from the girl's throat. In a sudden burst of speed and strength Alex somehow managed to kick Don off her legs, got in a crouch knocking Mikey off balance, and jumped out from under Dev. A second later she had turned Psych around and had him pressed up against the wall. Yet she didn't have him around the throat, but instead had an open claw pressed against his chest. "Take. That. _Back_!"

_Touchy… _If the boy had a mouth he'd be smiling smugly. Even though he was being held by a sharp claw, he wasn't afraid for his safety as he looked coolly into the red eyes, watching as the pupils changed back to circles, the black streak fading down to a pale grey. The glare wasn't blood thirsty anymore, just angry at the accusations.

"Let him go, Alex," Leo said cautiously.

The girl glanced over her shoulder at the boys before pulling her oversized black claw back.

Rubbing his chest Psych stepped forward and put a hand on the girl's arm. _Sorry,_ _I didn't mean any of it but I was afraid we had lost you. I've tried to help the ones before but they didn't have as strong a spirit to begin with and mutations only make it worse. Good to have ya back. Oh, and I think you can retract the claws with some concentration, give it a try._

Alex looked down at what used to be her hands. They were so big one could probably wrap around her own neck. Tensing her muscles she closed her eyes and concentrated. It wasn't easy with the lingering pains of mutating, and forcefully changing body parts wasn't exactly a stroll through central park either. Her arms started to shake with the strain and finally the claws seemed to slowly shrink and dull down back to normal hands, only they stayed black.

Mikey stood up from the floor and took a small step forward. "Al, are you… you?"

Alex looked over at him. The wings gave a small flap like a muscle spasm as the newly grown tail swung by her heels, the tips of the blades lightly scraping the floor. "No Mike," she sighed and gave her newly adopted fanged smile. "Now I'm a mutant."

* * *

Yes this one is short, and I probably shouldn't say this but the story should be coming to its end soon. But have no fear for the faithful readers (I'd know who exactly to thank if you people would review!) of this story, for I am thinking of a possible sequal. But so I don't give everything away you'll just have to find these things out in due time, like I say with updating, I make no promises because I might not keep them.

Keep reading and _review_! please?


	23. Explosive Plans

**Chapter Twenty-Three**

**Explosive Plans**

"I know that face," Raph said walking up behind his brother who had been staring at the window for the past ten minutes. "You're thinking of something."

Don didn't move his eyes from the great sheet of glass, like if he stared at it long enough the answer to their problems would just appear before him. He reached out a hand and touched the window.

"Ya mind clue'n a guy in brainiac?"

"I have a few ideas but there's nothing for certain," Don finally said.

"Well what do you have for now?" Raph asked.

"I… can't really say. I feel like I'm trying to put a puzzle together that's missing quite a few pieces."

That wasn't the answer Raph was wanting. He would have preferred something a little more straightforward. Nevertheless, Don was at least working on the puzzle, unlike _some_ people he knew.

Looking behind him he watched as Razor and Alex stood in the middle of the floor surrounded by a small group, teaching and re-teaching Morse code to those that wanted to know, with the exception of Bomber who completely refused to leave Eli's side for a second. While Mikey and Gorf were discussing something of absolute importance (AKA who would win in a fight; Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Iron Man, or the Incredible Hulk), and Leo was chatting with Doc about mutations. Were Raph and Don the only ones actually trying to think of a way to escape?

Inside Don's mind ideas were popping up and dieing like Forth of July fireworks. When things had quieted down after it was certain Alex was still sane, he was properly introduced with Psych. As a turtle that liked to know everything he could he had a million questions. Psych had done his best to answer as many as he could with an impossible amount of patience, but after a while the boy had tired and went to sleep. Now Don looked at the pile of blankets.

After glancing at the window again Don went over to the mound.

Raph, actually curious on what his brother was doing, followed.

"Hey, Psych?" Don asked the pile.

The blankets shifted with a tired grunt in reply.

"I have a question," Don said. He didn't wait for another reply in his wondering for the latest plan. "Approximately how thick is that glass?"

There was silence as the blankets shifted again. Then finally _I'm not sure. Two, three inches would be my guess. Couldn't possibly be more than four._

"Hm," Don looked back at the window thoughtfully. "Uh, thanks," he said quickly and walked away.

"Why'd yo want to know that?" Raph asked.

"Because, I might have a plan after all," Don said and stood by the window again. He pointed to a particular spot on the glass wall. "See this?"

Raph looked closer. "A… crack? So what?"

"So, that means if we have what I need then I might have found our exit." Don smiled. "The glass here is already weak; if we can spread the weakness enough then a final blow could-"

"You can't do that," a voice cut across him. In a flash of movement Dev was standing beside him.

"Were you eavesdropping?" Raph accused heatedly.

"It's impossible not to, this place was very limited privacy, not like we have much to hide from each other," Dev shrugged looking around then turned back to them. "Anyway, you can't break the window."

"Actually it would be fairly easy to with the right equipment," Don said.

Dev shook his head. "I don't know, or care, if it's possible, you just can't do it."

"Why not?" Raph challenged.

Dev crossed his arms. "Think of the immediate aftereffects."

Don tried not to shrug guessing it would only irritated the boy more. "The room would fill with water."

Dev's wings twitched as he grew irritated anyway. "Do these look like fins to you?" he asked roughly, pointing over his shoulder.

Don saw where this was going. "But surely you all can sw-"

"_No_, we can't," Dev cut him off again. "Those assholes out there," he pointed behind the turtles where the door would be "were careful in what they taught. Only those made specifically for water can swim, everyone else is expected to stay dry. Even us fliers have the message to not so much as fight over a deep body of water drilled into our minds, if there's the possibility of us becoming grounded. And let me tell you for some of us when I say 'drilled' it's not just a metaphor," he added darkly touching an unseen scar behind his ear. Some of the ones that can swim have shared how the movements are supposed to go and all the basics but those are only theories, none of us have the actual experience. And we may hate our existence, but that doesn't mean we want to drown."

Don sighed as he looked up at the window. It was such an easy exit. But he needed to admit that he had only assumed that they all could swim. But even if they could there was no chance in actually knowing how far deep they were in the Hudson. The river's deepest point was two hundred and sixteen feet, much too deep for a normal body to withstand, not to mention make it to the surface on only one lungful of air. But, they had help from those that could?

He turned towards the room and looked at all the experiments. It was impossible to find the aquatic soldiers just by looking but he knew there was Razor, and maybe even Gorf. There had to be plenty more if all this was for some type of war.

"Oi, Dev!" a voice suddenly called from above. There was a small group of teens with feathered wings up on the poles beckoning him to join them. Beside them was another group of winged teens with bat wings. "These skin flaps think they can fly better than us! Get up here and show 'em what a feather can do!"

Dev put a hand on Don's shoulder. "I'm not going to beg, but I'm asking you, find another way." With that he jumped up and beat down, becoming level with his fellow fliers in seconds.

"Peh," Raph crossed his arms. "You don't have to listen ta 'im, Don."

"No, he's right," Don said shaking his head at his idea. "Destroying the wall would do more harm than good. If we're getting out of here I want it with as little casualties as possible."

"Cas-ul… what?"

"Casualties Raph," Don repeated grimly. "Deaths."

It was Raph's turn to shake his head. "Nah, you're just gett'n yer head stuck in the details, look at the big picture bro. It's better to save fifty than none, even if one or two don't make it, right?"

Don almost couldn't believe what he just heard. "But what if that 'one' is Mike- or Leo?" he asked. "Those 'two' could be Razor and Alex. It could be them just as easily as it could be anyone else, even us."

That got Raph thinking and the depressing understanding of their situation showed on his face. "Damn it," he said quietly.

Don sighed as he rubbed his head, hand going over the scar. They were stuck. He couldn't very well plan much in theory because the way he saw it they only had one chance to escape and that was it. One shot to move an army of science experiments at once without losing anyone, or worse; leaving them behind.

"Look," he said after a rather uncomfortably depressing silence had fallen between the two. "I'm going to think more on this. We'll get out of here Raph, the possibilities of a failed plan's aftereffects are all the more reason to try harder."

Raph nodded though he only had a vague understanding of what Don had just said. Couldn't this guy talk in simple English?

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Trying to think of an escape plan with the least amount of consequences proved to be harder than Donatello thought and he thought it would be hard to begin with. At some points during his planning where he would mutter to himself one of the experiments would happen to hear and jump in on his ideas. Every plan he came up with, that at first seemed perfectly possible, were shot down with the experiments telling him what could or would happen and what the consequences would be. Although he was sure that the majority of punishments were exaggerated he couldn't help but think the exaggerations weren't all that big. But for some reason every time he was at a loss for ideas his mind seemed to automatically shift back to the plan of just breaking through the window.

Not only was this struggle to create a plan both emotionally and mentally exhausting but very time consuming. It was explained to him that the only way any of the ones staying inside the large room could tell time was by keeping track on how many times they had been fed. According to the experiments dedicated to mental use more than physical they were fed twice a day, once at high noon, once at midnight. Since they didn't really need to know specific times of the day all they could keep track of was night and day. Don made a mental note of this, knowing that when they finally did escape that it would have to be at night so the cover of darkness would aid everyone in an escape into the world, less the general public see a mass of young adults and children seem to appear out of the depth of the Hudson. That was a scenario best to never be lived.

Knowing the ways of time in the Labs now, Don found that three days had passed since his talk with Dev. Now on the brink of a mental breakdown, he walked over to the mound of pillows and leaned against the wall. He couldn't figure why, but within the entire room this was where he liked to think the most.

It wasn't long before he heard the growing familiar voice inside his head. _You're frustrated._

"Every time I think of something, there's something wrong with it."

_Things like this take time, and you deserve as much time as you need for not only wanting to get out but trying to make a plan where everyone will survive._

"I'm starting to think such a plan is impossible to create."

_Nothing's impossible Donatello. Most would think it impossible that beings such as you and I exist, and yet here we are. I know you'll think of something, and you're not the only one trying to plan. Alex has already given herself a few headaches, you're brother Raphael is trying hard but he still only sees the big picture, and I fear Leonardo is going to scar his brain by raking so hard._

There was silence for a short while as Don continued to think. Then Psych had a final bit of advice.

_Just allow me to say this while you think, in a game of soccer do you think it's easier for the goalie to block one ball or two?_

"One, of course," Don said not sure how that had anything to do with his planning problem. It took him a minute to find the connection. "Two exits, the scientists would have to split their attention over two exits, which would only make it easier on us."

_The aquatic soldiers can't exactly move as fast as the ground teams or even the fliers on dry land._

"Dev still wouldn't like it if I broke the window."

_You're not the one breaking the window, or are you suddenly the one that's spent his entire existence around explosive chemicals? I'm sure if Dev has someone he can trust to go along with things he'll be less resistant, and frankly you need everyone on your side for things to go according to plan the first time._

Don thought if over. Maybe he actually had a plan going here. "Thanks Psych," he said and turned to go talk with a few individuals.

The blankets shifted. _For what? All I'm doing is falling asleep here._

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"You're nuts."

"I think it might work."

"Yeah _might_ and with our kind of luck 'might' isn't exactly a reassuring thought."

"What's going on?" Razor asked walking up to Alex and Don as the two sat on the floor.

"Genius here wants to blow up the window," Alex said.

"It's such an easy exit," Don defended his idea.

Razor looked at the large glass wall. He stared at it for a couple seconds before shrugging. "I don't see anything wrong with that."

"Only because you can breathe underwater," Alex said.

"But that's not the only way out," Don said. "Those who are willing can go through the window, while the others can go up through the elevator shafts."

Alex looked at him funny. "How'd you know about…"

"Psych told me yesterday."

"Ah," Alex said and shook her head. "But Don that alone was a lucky shot, and it was only me. I doubt they'll let that happen again, especially with so many." Don looked over at the wall where he had first entered the room. Alex shook her head. "No, I know exactly what you're thinking about, and you can't possibly use-"

"The vents," Don finished. "They have to lead somewhere, why not out? And how can you not be with me on this? You're the one that was planning the impossible by trying to do this on your own without getting caught."

Alex's mouth tightened knowing he was right. With a groan she leaned back and lay on the floor. Her tail lifted up. She could feel the weight of the metal blades, larger than what she was used to. Lifting a hand up, she stared at the forever changed black skin. Pressing the hand against her face, she threw her weight forward and sat back up. She huffed. "What do you need?"

Don smiled. "First grabbing everyone's trust would be good. Everyone needs to be willing to try and leave no matter which way they do it. We need to know for sure if the vents do lead outside too. But before we do that we need to find a way out of here."

"That'll be tricky," Razor said.

Alex stood up. "First let's tell Leo, Raph and Mike. It's going to be hard to get everyone to trust us, but if we talk to the right ones first it'll be easier. I'll go tell them, Razor go talk to Gorf and Doc I think they'll be on our side, Don you go talk to Bomber about that window. If Bomber trusts you then Dev probably will, and he'll get others to trust him. And besides, if Bomber – being to protective over Eli – trusts you then many others will be easier to convince."

Don nodded and stood up as Alex and Razor walked away.

Bomber was found in the usual corner with Eli. Both of them were asleep, Eli sitting in Bomber's lap with the boy's lower set of arms wrapped around her. Eli was sleeping soundly while Bomber murmured in his slumber.

"Following orders… not my fault… stupid cockroaches… your fault… dumb planning… destroy every… thing…"

"Bomber," Don said quietly trying not to wake the girl up. The older of the two slept on. "Bomber," Don tried again a little louder and lightly nudged Bomber's foot with his toe.

The boy jerked awake blurting, "Nuclear bomb!" before blinking sleep from his eyes and looked around. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary he noticed Don before him and looked up at the turtle accusingly. "What?" he asked quietly but roughly.

"I could use your expertise on a plan I'm working on," Don said carefully.

Bomber huffed shaking his head a little. "Tell me later, I'm sleep'n here." Without another word he closed his eyes and settled back down.

You're just like Raph, Don thought. Nothing gets in the way of sleep. "Hey," he said nudging Bomber's foot again.

"What?!" Bomber hissed heatedly.

"It's a plan on how to get out of here."

Suddenly Bomber seemed more awake. "What is it?"

Don turned away. "I'll show you if you'll get up."

The curiosity on Bomber's face dwindled some at needing to move. With another huff he gently moved Eli off his legs so he could stand up. The girl opened here eyes a crack from being woken up. When Bomber got to his feet he pulled Eli up and put her on his back, holding her legs to his sides with his lower set of hands while she loosely wrapped her arms around his neck. Resting her head on his shoulder Eli went back to sleep.

Carrying the girl on his back Bomber followed Don to the window, upper arms crossed impatiently. "So, what is it?" he asked crankily.

Don kept his voice low. "What do you think it would take to break this window?"

Bomber was suddenly wide awake and looking at Don like he had completely lost it. "Break the window?" he repeated looking from the turtle to the glass and back. "Have you soaked your gunpowder?" he hissed.

Never heard that one… Don thought.

"Do you have any idea what would happen if-"

"Yes I've thought of that and Dev has also told me," Don interrupted. "But it should be a straight shot to the surface, from there you guys could go practically anywhere you wanted in the world, get as far away as you could. I'm fully aware of the fact that a lot of you can't swim, but that can be helped with the ones that can. With the aquatic soldiers' help plenty will be able to make it in time before you run out of air. And besides, not everyone has to use the window."

Now Bomber was looking at him like he belonged in the psycho ward.

"For those that won't use the window there's always those elevator shafts that Alex used on her first escape, along with the vents," Don continued ignoring the look. "The ones that take those paths will stay perfectly dry. Bomber with your help we have a chance of getting everyone out of here." He faltered a moment at the look of one about to call him insane and turn away, when an idea struck him. "And not only that but you could make sure you'll never have to come back here."

That changed Bomber's mood a little. Now he looked intrigued, but there were still traces of doubt.

"I'm sure that someone that can handle explosives such as you," Don said turning to flattery. "Will be able to make enough bombs with the right equipment that can be placed throughout this place and send it to kingdom come. If we do it right this place will be no more and you, me, Eli, everyone will be completely free without having to worry about ever coming back."

Now Bomber looked completely interested. He looked at the window again, taking a step back to look at the full sheet of glass, estimated calculations going through his mind. After a full two minutes he finally said "It's going to take a strong bomb to make a big enough hole to get everyone out in the fastest amount of time. I'll need a hell of a lot more equipment than what Alex brought with those simple bomb kits and not only that but to make the other bombs for the hallways…" He looked at Don. "We might need the entire supply closet, which is extremely hard to get to, we've tried before…" he broke off shaking his head.

"I'll talk with Alex on that," Don said. He was about to point out the crack in the glass to see if the point of weakness would help any when he heard the flap of wings and looked to see a very irritated Dev standing beside him.

"You said you wouldn't."

"Technically I didn't," Don corrected. "You just assumed."

"Doesn't matter," Dev shook his head. "You shouldn't do it."

Bomber stepped in. "Dev, it should be fine. We always want to get out of here; this could be our chance, unless, of course, you want to start molting again from lasers." Don was curious as to what that meant but it seemed to cool Dev down some. "Besides, the window isn't our only option. And not only that but we're going to leave with a bang."

Dev looked at him with the face of someone trying to decide if he was okay with the plan or not. "How big a bang?" he asked.

"If we can get everything," Bomber said. "The entire mine field."

Dev looked at the window, then at the wall where the door was. His wings twitched as he turned back to Bomber with a growing smile. It was clear in his eyes that he wasn't just thinking of blowing the labs up, but who was going to be blown up with the place. Don wasn't exactly one for violence, and he had been trying not to think about that aspect of the idea, but he knew that if the scientists stayed alive then they would just rebuild the labs over time. It was better to get rid of a problem than put it off for later where it would just come back and do more than just bite them in the butt.

"Okay," the winged soldier finally said. "What do we have to do?"

Bomber and Dev looked at Don; it was, after all, his plan.

"First we need to get everyone on our side," Don answered. "Everyone's cooperation is extremely important when trying to move such a large number at the same time."

"The swimmers are going to be overjoyed," Dev said and took off for the ceiling.

As Bomber walked away to go talk to those close enough to the ground that haven't been informed, or convinced, of the plan Don went over to Leo who had started walking his way.

"You sure this is going to work?" Leo asked.

Don secretly looked around before whispering quietly, "Not entirely… yet. But it's all we have. I've looked at all the possibilities, this is our only bet. I'm sure things would seem safer if we had blue prints, measurements, a way out of this room…"

"I don't like getting these guys' hopes up, but if you're sure of yourself Don this might be it."

"Things will seem better when we have actual material to look at," I hope, he added in his head.

* * *

Hey guys, I finally gave Donnie an entire chapter to himself! or mostly anyway. So now we're finally getting some headway, but will anyone trust him enough to go along with the plan??

Just to forewarn you, the next chapter's pretty short, originally it was supposed to be part of this one, but I dicided to cut it becuase I'm odd like that. Anyway, enjoy and review!


	24. Persuasion

**Chapter Twenty-Four**

**Persuasion**

Word had spread like a deadly virus on the possible escape plan. Mixed views were passed around. As Dev predicted the aquatic soldiers didn't see anything wrong with the plan, in fact they seemed eager to do it. Everyone else wasn't so fast to believe in their window of opportunity.

Now the entire room was focusing on the middle of the floor where Don was trying to defend his ideas with his brothers, Alex and Razor to back him up. It seemed like every time someone was about to get on their side some skeptic had to pipe up with a problem and the doubt started all over again. It didn't help either that once a problem was pointed out, and Don had to falter for a second trying to think of an answer to it, everyone seemed to speak at once. If Alex didn't know better she could have sworn that the experiments were purposely trying to make sure they didn't go anywhere. And to make things even worse the noise level continued to escalate to the point one could hardly hear themselves think, which turns the attention of the reader to the corner by the window.

A headache is one thing when it's self inflicted. It's even worse when the pounding pain comes from outside the mind, like listening to extremely loud music. The worst headache is when that extremely loud, tuneless, confusing, screeching music is inside the head and can't be kept at bay by covering one's ears.

Tossing and turning in his cave under the blankets the boy could feel the network of connections reaching out to other minds becoming waves crashing into the floodgates of his sanity. The voices of each individual yelling out in strong beliefs, questions, confusion, anger, arguing, resentment and so many other emotions it was impossible to count them all. Soon it came to the point where the ancient five-year-old couldn't even feel his own mind, couldn't tell what he was personally thinking.

Voices stabbed at his brain, the connections becoming more like electrified needles than a means of communication. Nausea was starting to take over, physical pain becoming known. Psych through the blankets off to sit up, gripped his head, pulling on his hair, shaking in the agony of the worst possible kind of headache. And like any kind of person he had to make it stop.

At first he was simply going to yell out, get them all to calm down, but that was before the floodgates burst open under the pressure of a two hundred foot tsunami. Dangling off the cliff above the raging sea of insanity, Psych knew he had to retaliate in the only way powerful enough for it all the completely stop.

...--...

Like a hidden mine being stepped on, a sound suddenly exploded causing hands to fly up to ears. It was like hundreds of thousands nails being dragged down blackboards - a crippling pain that attacked the mind, impossible to ignore, impossible to stop.

Thoughts were shattered, the broken shards coming back to pierce the brain. Some cried out in pain while others sank to their knees. Bodies shook as muscles paralyzed.

Then, just a suddenly as it came, it stopped, leaving a faint buzzing in their ears. Nothing was said, no one moved. Eyes shifted looking around the room for the possible source. Could the scientists have done this?

Razor couldn't believe that. Within all the torture he'd been put through he wouldn't have ever thought the scientists could do that to all of them at once. As he looked around his eyes caught sight of Psych. As he stared others saw him and followed his gaze, a sound still couldn't be heard except for heavy, shaking breaths.

The young body sat up on the mound, some blankets thrown to the floor. His usual bed head looking more ragged than normal as his small hands remained clasped to fistfuls of hair on the sides of his head. Breaths came in what would have been gasps as his entire frame shook like it was vibrating. After a moment he released one stiff fist and put the hand to a bleeding nose.

The first person to actually move was Doc who headed over to the small body. Even her walking was shaky and unsteady but she made it across the floor easy enough and knelt down. Psych lifted his pain filled eyes to meet hers, his body shaking like a leaf caught in a windstorm. Doc picked up one of the older blankets and ripped a piece of fabric from it. She pulled part of the boy's scarf down and pressed the torn material against the bleeding nostril, luckily it was only one instead of both.

_S… s… sor…ry… _a tiny voice rang out. _It was… j… just… _A grown escaped Psych's throat as he used one hand to hold the cloth in place and pressed the other to his still pounding forehead.

"Dude…" Mikey said rubbing his ringing ears. "What was that?"

"Completely unfair mental torture," Gorf said holding his head.

Dev dropped to the ground, body shaking too hard to keep his balance up high. "In other words," he said collapsing on the floor. "A psychic's headache when they're kind enough to share." As he spoke a dark feather landed on his foot. He picked it up and looked behind him while flexing a wing. A small pile of loose feathers fell to the floor like the first one. "Damn it, I'm molting again!"

"Oh the effects on a bird brain under mental stress," Alex said picking a rather large, important-looking feather up.

"Shut up skin flap," Dev snapped and snatched the feather from her hand.

"Hey Psych," Razor called. "What was that for?"

_So… many voices… too loud… _Psych physically groaned again.

Doc sat down against the window and pulled the shaking body into her lap. She rubbed the small shoulders, trying to relax his body hoping the mind would quickly follow.

A long silence settled over the room, most still recovering from the sudden mental blow.

After a few minutes, when the boy finally stopped shaking, Doc leaned over Psych's shoulder and said quietly in his ear "You okay?"

Psych pulled the now bloody cloth of him nose and gently inspected the nostril, finding it had stopped flowing he slowly nodded. _I really am sorry. That was unfair. _He said weakly and started to get up.

Doc wanted to protest to keep him from getting to his feet like the doctor she was, but there was just something about Psych that prevented her from ever going against him. So instead she helped keep him steady as he gained his balance.

_What is this all about anyway?_

Doc quickly summed it all up as Psych wrapped the long wide tail of his scarf around his shoulders. He truly did look just like a little kid that had just gotten up, carrying his beloved blanket around with him wanting to go back to bed but knew he couldn't. When Doc was done explaining there was a simple, _Oh, _and he walked forward to join the small group in the middle of the floor. Once there he turned to the room while moving a hand out from under the scarf where he held it around him, and rubbed his eyes.

With a sigh he started. _Listen guys, I'm sorry for that… mental attack. As oldest I should be able to block certain things to prevent that from happening, but you have to admit, when you all band together you can be pretty powerful. _

_I have two things to say to you all: one; remember, I can hear you verbally and mentally, you don't have to scream at me. And two; listen to these guys. Yes you may have your doubts, but no plan is completely perfect. There will be risks, but you all are soldiers. You're made for risks. Together you are an army made to win a _war_ without breaking a sweat. You are trained to handle situations far worse than what you imply will happen if you try to escape._

_Look at the experiment next to you, go on look. Do they seem weak to you? Especially those of you made for the front lines. I can tell you right now your minds are set on threats and punishments. You all live in fear of what might happen if you do something that the scientists don't like. Those of you that hate your life and the ones that brought you into existence with every fiber of your being should look at yourselves. Don't tell me your bark is worse than your bite. Its time you guys stood up for yourselves._

_There comes a time in life where the student surpasses the teacher, the creation betters the creator. I'm telling you this might be the only chance you get to better our creators. I know an awful lot of you want to knock a few teeth out, especially you Sock. Now's the time, here's your chance._

_And if that's not enough, look at what happened to Alex. And I'm not just talking about the mutation, but before that. Alexander – an android sent as a replacement. How long do you think it will be until all of us are dubbed obsolete? They're probably in the process of creating our replacements right now. Are you going to wait until it's too late and we're killed to make room? Yes, I'm not going to hide it, there's no point, they will _kill _us. It happens to the mistakes, it's going to happen to the obsolete. It's only a matter of time._

_You all have the skills, the training, even the weapons for the most part, what's holding you back? Nightmares? Its time to wake up, trust me and trust these guys, all they're trying to do is get out of here but they need your help. In return you'll get what you've never had before: the outside world._

_Talk with them, don't argue, if you see a problem work it out; don't throw the whole plan away. You were created to fight, and that's what you're going to do. Stop cowering in the shadows and fight for the right to live!_

Calls of agreement rang out.

Alex smiled. "Thanks Psych,"

Psych looked at her, a question in his eyes. _What'd I do? Everyone already knew all of that; I just put it all in words._

* * *

I told you guys this chapter was short. I don't know why I made this an independent one, but here it is. I don't have much to say here except I only have thirteen more school days left!! Anyway, enjoy and review!


	25. Start For Freedom

**Chapter Twenty-Five**

**Start for Freedom**

"Watcha do'n?"

"What's it look like?"

"Can I press it?"

"No."

"Pleeease?"

"No Gorf!"

"Please? Pretty, pretty please?"

Bomber grabbed Gorf's shirt and held him threateningly close. "Frog-boy, don't make me stuff your tail down your throat."

"Can _I_ press it?" Mikey asked seeming to pop up from nowhere.

Bomber glared at him as he gripped the detonator and hit the red button, some feet behind him a small pile of bombs went off where the door was.

"Aww…" Mikey and Gorf groaned.

Ignoring the two, Bomber looked at the wall. When the smoke cleared there was a small hole in the door. Smiles started to spread, but they didn't stay long as everyone watched the steel seem to heal. After a moment the hole was gone without a single scratch on the wall.

"I told you it wouldn't work," Bomber said, dropping the detonator.

"Anyone lese have a bright idea?" Razor asked.

"How many bombs do we have left?" Leo asked.

Bomber turned to a pair of twins with tough leathery skin, their bodies specially made so they can never blow themselves up while making explosives. "'Ey," he said to get their attention. "How many left?"

"Which kind?" one of the twins asked.

"The blinders- what kind do you think?!"

The two looked at the pile between them and listed off together.

"Three with timers,"

"Some grenades,"

"Two packs of dynamite,"

"And enough supplies for… three large bombs," They finished together. "There's enough for one more try to still have enough left over to help with the final blow, including the ones for the hallways."

Bomber turned back to Leo. "There you go. There's not much if we're breaking through the window."

"We could blast another hole and have someone keep the metal from closing," Leo suggested.

"Okay, who wants their arm cut off?" Dev asked sarcastically.

"Well then what's your great idea?" Raph asked.

Dev stood there a moment, thinking. "What if we didn't have to blow a way through? What if they opened the door for us?"

"Yeah, and what happens when they slam it back down?" Razor asked dryly.

"Someone could keep it up until the mechanism breaks under the strain," Gorf suggested.

"And who's actually strong enough to do that?" Razor questioned.

"Alex could," Dev said pointing to the girl expecting where the hole had been.

"Say what?" Alex asked turning around at the mention of her name.

"You're the only one with metal bones," Dev pointed out. "And every experiment ment for fighting has muscle; besides, your hands can take the strain."

"How do you know?" Alex crossed her arms, black hands self consciously stuffed down pockets.

"You still have a metal skeleton."

"Only parts of it," Alex pointed out, though she knew that both arms were metal.

"So what?" Dev asked. "What are you saying, you're suddenly too weak?"

"Alex opened her mouth only to close it again. Why was she refusing? "Fine," she finally huffed. "But how are you going to get them to open the door?"

"That's simple," Gorf said.

Dev smiled. "Who would care to join me in using every swear word known to man kind?"

Bomber couldn't help from smiling too. "To those with sensitive minds it's recommended you cover your ears."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

At first Ambrose had been intrigued by the recent happenings with the experiments. He found it interesting how the mutants were trying so hard to escape and his creations simply pushed the ideas away with much yelling. The scientists had witnessed something very thought provoking, soon after when it seemed everyone had simply stopped at once in what looked like pain. This had confused him. He hadn't remembered ever planting something in their brains capable of that. And if that wasn't enough the very first successful one had done something to get the entire room of creations to agree.

It had already crossed the scientist's mind that the oldest experiment had something… extra that he was hiding, but he wasn't exactly sure of it. Now he had started thinking on it more. Could it be possible that the first scientists from those two hundred-some years ago had over looked something?

In fact it was highly possible.

Before he could continue to think and eventually find the meaning behind the given name 'Psych', Ambrose's attention had been moved to the experiments actually going on with their plans of escape. Be found it amusing as he watched them try to blow through the walls. He wondered how long it would take them to get it through their test-tube-born-brains that no matter how they harm the specially made metal, it would just regenerate. More amused than alarmed by their attempt, Ambrose hadn't taken any action.

After a few minutes it seemed that the group had finally understood that they weren't going to get anywhere, and had started showing their dampened spirits to each other with harsh words. It didn't last long though as the Aerial attacks leader and head explosive specialist had grown smiles. The two, along with a few others including his stubborn rebel of a female clone had started yelling. But not at each other, they were yelling out into the room - at him.

This wasn't the first time his creations had yelled at him from inside the holding room. Though this was the first time they had cursed so many times, and even went into other languages when they ran out of English swears.

Now Ambrose was no pushover, and he wouldn't let something like this slip by so easily. Besides, he had a law to uphold. His creations were getting out of control, banding together like this, and insulting his IQ (along with his mother) in the process, something had to be done!

Pulling a cell phone from his lab coat he quickly called the 'muscle men barracks'. Quickly explaining the situation, he hung up not waiting for a reply on the other end of the line, and leaned back in his chair to watch the display.

This should be interesting.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Gorf's tongue hung out, he was getting tongue tied switching languages so quickly. Bomber, Dev, Alex, and Razor, however, were handling the swearing a little too well.

Finally the small group of dirt mouths slowly stopped from Razor's throat hurting, Dev running out of swears, and Alex running out of breath. Bomber seemed pretty satisfied.

It didn't take long for the inevitable to happen, the door to the room slid open and six muscle men came running in. What happened next was a blur of preplanned movement. The men came dashing in and the five in trouble took quick nervous steps back, luring the men farther into the room. Then Alex suddenly made her move and ran towards them. With their guard down by the surprise Alex unfurled her wings and easily jumped over them heading for the door, concentrating to change her hands into claws. When the girl touched down one of the men turned around and aimed a gun that probably had a tranquilizer dart as ammo. Before he could shoot though the group of men was suddenly surrounded, experiments dropping from above pinning them inside a tight circle, multiple guns trained on them, the couple that held grudges aiming just below the belt area.

Alex knew Ambrose was watching because she had just gotten in the doorway when the door tried to slam down on her. Hands flying up, so she could do her job and to prevent getting sliced in half, the door caught in her palms. She locked her arms as the machine that closed the door pushed against her, setting the muscles ablaze. The mechanism strained to fulfill its purpose as it seemed to push harder. Alex felt her elbows start to bend, she could feel the pressure down in her legs.

In what could be described as a snarl, Alex fought to push back up. In the determination and physical strain the black stripe across her eyes started to darken from grey to black, her pupils steadily started to thin into slits.

Through the fight with the door the girl heard footsteps and buzzing behind her. Glancing over her shoulder she caught sight of three more muscle men and a couple of bug-robots.

Unable to leave her post Alex yelled back into the room "Little help here!"

Razor was the first one to come forward with a gun. He stood by the wall shooting out into the hallway. He wasn't the best shot, but since there wasn't much room to dodge some of the shots met their mark. It was nothing immediately fatal, mostly clipped arms and one hit in the shoulder. The men started to retreat as the robots advanced, and cheated. One of them produced a light bulb from atop its head and it started flashing just like a strobe light. The flashing caused Razor to go cross eyed and he had to turn away unable to even see where the robots were.

Alex suddenly realized just how open her back was, unable to hold the door up and look over her shoulder to aim her tail at the same time.

"Piper!" Razor yelled as he rubbed his eyes.

A dark skinned girl that looked to be about seventeen with hair pulled into a short ponytail, had made herself at home with the weapons, two guns in her belt the only visible weapons though she was trained in the art of concealing weapons, and specially made as an ace shooter along as a firearms expert. Muttering something under her breath using the words 'useless fish breath' and 'no eye-hand coordination' she pulled a gun from her belt and easily put the robots out of commission, one shot each.

Even with the robots gone Alex had another problem: her knees were starting to buckle. With the black around her eyes at the darkest possible shade, cheeks turning red, Alex looked at Piper. "Tell the… hackers to… move it!"

"Right," Piper said and turned to the room. "Hey! Computer geeks!" she yelled and jabbed a thumb over her shoulder. "All clear, get a move on!"

"We're not geeks!" Gorf called as he ran forward and slid like a baseball player going for home plate between Alex's legs.

"We prefer technicians," Razor said after he could finally see and slipped by Alex.

"Don, come on!" Bomber called and slid under Alex also. It had taken a lot of persuading to get Bomber to leave Eli so he could go get the needed supplies for the big bomb. Finally he had agreed to go after Dev had sworn he'd look after the girl.

Don headed after Bomber with two more boys right behind them. It had been decided that bodyguards would be needed also, so while the technicians battled with the computers there would be someone to watch their backs. Slugger and Sock were the chosen 'body guards'. Both trained in hand to hand combat. Slugger wielding the unnatural ability of superhuman strength, while Sock could move at the speed of sound allowing him the opportunity to deliver his signature punch, to either the gut or the jaw, no matter what his opponent's defenses may be. Hopefully if things went well they wouldn't need the fighters, but things seemed to rarely go well on great escape plans.

When the technicians and bodyguards had gone attention was turned onto the captives.

"Okay _men_," Dev said, the temporary leader of the group holding the muscle men prisoner. "Drop your weapons and _maybe _I'll be able to hold these guys back and let you leave, be extra good and you can keep your rights to be called male."

None of the adults moved. Half the circle around them cocked their guns.

"Maybe you didn't hear me," Dev said. "Put the guns down or else we'll blast your brains out."

"Can't they just knock 'em out?" Mikey asked from the wall.

"I think that's beside the point," Raph said.

"You think? Ow! Don't kick me, I'm shell-less and pale."

"You're about to be black and blue."

Leo gave an irritated sigh. These two always picked the best time to fight.

While across the room there was the sound of firearms clattering to the floor. After another threatened command the weapons were kicked across the floor to be picked up.

This part of the plan would be very successful, if the exit could stay open.

Through her life Alex is constantly reminded that even if her bones were made of steel, that didn't necessarily mean everything else was as tough and at the moment her arms were reminding her with a burning feeling. She was strong sure, but the more resistance she used to keep the door from closing the stronger the machine trying to close the door pushed. Somehow she just knew Ambrose was in his little control room pushing buttons and turning knobs to push the door to the point she would give out, and her legs were telling her that wouldn't be long.

It only took a few more seconds before her legs did collapse and she fell to her knees. The door fell halfway before getting caught by the claws once again. By this time the black across her eyes had turned its darkest color, her pupils were thin slits as she glared up at her palms. "Stupid… door…" she muttered as she worked her feet back under her. With shaking arms she gathered the last bit of strength into her legs, stiffened her arms and jumped up - or tried to.

There was an awful sound of crunching metal as the door bent upward, creating a broken arch at the bottom of the door where her hands were, as the door jammed back up into the top of the doorway. The door wasn't completely up, some would have to duck to go through it, but it was open.

Smoke appeared from the mechanism breaking.

With heavy breaths Alex slowly lowered her arms. After watching closely until she was sure the door wasn't coming back down, she dropped her hands like they were blocks of concrete, took a few steps back into the room, and hit the floor. A pulse could be felt from both palms as a throbbing pain radiated from her arms.

Mikey came over with Leo and crouched down. "You okay?"

"If being unable to move my arms is okay then yeah, I'm just great," Alex told the ground as her body returned to 'normal', black skin around eyes paled, pupils rounded down to circles, claws shrinking and dulling back to hands. "Hey!" she said sharply, her tail whipping up to meet Mikey's outstretched finger, the blade just barely stopping in time. "Touch a sore spot and lose a hand."

"You sure you're okay?" Leo asked.

"Yeah," Alex sighed. "Guess Dev was right. How's he handling the men?"

"No one's dead… yet," Leo replied looking over at the group of experiments still circled around the muscle men. "You sure he won't actually…?"

"No, but you have to remember, we do have the right to pull the triggers," Alex said and waited a moment before continuing. "Just tell him to hold fire and take prisoners. The more numbers we have captive the less there are to fight us when we leave."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"Could these guys go any slower?" Slugger muttered as he and Sock stood in the open doorway, the busted down door on the ground at their feet.

"We just got here!" Razor yelled over his shoulder. He had been able to remember where one of the numerous control rooms were. There were five so if an experiment did happen to break out, they couldn't shut the entire place down with a few keystrokes. Now he, Don, and Gorf were busy trying to hack into the computer looking for what they needed. It was easier than it would have been since they had made a pit stop in a different equipment room taking a few 'techno geek gadgets'. The handheld machines were made for hacking into enemy databases, and that was exactly what they were doing.

"I wonder why they haven't set off the alarm yet," Sock said.

"Probably to see how far we can get," Bomber replied as he leaned against the wall. He gestured to an entire wall in the control room that housed multiple monitors from security cameras. One of them was a clear view of Dev's work at rounding up, and cornering the muscle men. "The scientists already know what we're doing, if they know our plans exactly… hell if I know. Just wait, as soon as we get everything we need we'll have a swarm on us." He sighed and muttered under his breath, "I shouldn't have left Eli…"

"Okay, we already have a complete map of the place, and I just got a map for the vents…" Gorf said more to himself than anyone. "Hey, they really _do _lead outside!"

"All the oxygen in this place had to come from somewhere," Don said.

"What about oxygen generators?" Razor suggested.

"You heard what Psych told us," Gorf said. "The vents probably dated back to when this place was first built, before generators."

"Anyway," Don said to hurry them on. "We got what we need from here, now let's hurry."

"Right," Gorf said and copied the map onto a small disk that could supposedly produce holograms of the stored data. He pocketed the disk and headed for the door with Don right behind him.

"Finally," Bomber, Sock and Slugger said together as they went into the hallway.

"Razor!" Bomber hissed, noticing the shark-boy still at the computer.

"Just a second," Razor said distractedly as his hands danced over the keys. After a few hurried moments the lights, monitors, computer, everything electronic in the room seemed to just shut off. In the darkness the sound of crunching metal filled the air and sparks flashed in the shadow. Finally Razor walked out with a smile. "Okay, let's go."

"Do you have to destroy everything?" Gorf asked as they ran down the hall, not wanting to waste the small amount of time they had without guns at their backs.

"Hey, I may be a technician, but I was also made for sabotage."

...--...

"This should be it," Gorf said as he slid to a stop.

"Of course it's at a dead end…" Bomber mumbled as Sock and Slugger went to the door that they could barely see.

A few metal crunching punches and kicks, and hissed swears at bruised knuckles and pained feet, the door fell to the ground.

Bomber was the first one in the room and he felt like he had just walked through the gates to heaven. Bags and boxes of explosive chemicals were everywhere just waiting to be mixed together for the ultimate explosion. Pre-made bombs were also stuffed inside the supply closet.

After taking a second to soak it all in, a crazy, destructive smile splitting his face, Bomber pulled out the storage cube that Alex had brought all the weapons in with, and started putting everything away. Halfway through his packing the escape siren went off.

Sock, Slugger, Don, and Razor made various fighting stances as they watched the other end of the hall, while Gorf coward behind them waiting.

"Hurry up Bomber…" Gorf said shakily.

"These things are delicate!" Bomber called over his shoulder. "Just- give me a few more moments," he said. He hadn't exaggerated when he told Don they would need the entire supply closet to pull off the window breaking explosion.

"A few is all we got!" Slugger yelled over his shoulder.

Passed the mind splitting scream, Razor's heightened hearing could pick up buzzing. To prove him right the first of the bug-robots appeared at the end of the hall, speeding towards them.

At the sight a film of fearful slime was coating Gorf's skin while everyone else got ready.

When the robots were almost on them Bomber finally shut the storage cube and turned around with a green oval in his hand and a thin silver ring in his teeth. "Fire in the hole!" he yelled and threw the object.

The grenade bounced a few feet in front of the robots before it exploded underneath them.

"Move it!" Razor yelled and the group took off, Gorf leaving a trail of slimy footprints behind him.

Sock and Slugger were leading the way. Around every turn more and more robots seemed to appear. The two 'born' fighters took out most of them with their fists, bashing them against the wall as they went, but some robots were able to get passed. These Don's Bo staff and Razor's teeth took care of.

Until a flashing red light appeared in the halls to further signify escapees. Almost immediately Razor tripped.

"Useless fish breath…" Bomber grumbled as he picked up the dizzy boy and practically carried him in their hurry.

They had just reached the intersection that led to the large holding room when bug-robots and muscle men alike appeared from all sides, quickly blocking the way to sure safety. The enemies didn't take their time to close in. Don, Slugger and Soc were the only ones that could do most of the fighting. Gorf didn't know how to fight, and all Bomber could do was defend himself and Razor with a few punches.

From his spot hiding between Slugger and Don, Gorf knew they weren't going to make it. They were too outnumbered, especially by the robots. His thoughts were confirmed when the men stopped attacking and the robots advanced as one. A green smoke spewed out from all of them.

With the group already breathing hard from the running and fighting it didn't take long for the sleep gas to take effect.

So… close… were the last words Gorf could think before he fell to the ground with the others and darkness swallowed them whole.

* * *

God do I feel horrible about how long I've been gone! But I've recently finished one of my stories that aren't fanfictions and started another one, while trying to do another that's already been written. I assure those of you that actually like my story (though you refuse to review!...) that I haven't forgotten about this one and still intend on finishing it. And my mind has come up with a few ideas for a sequal... but lets writting one thing at a time, shall we?

I've been reading over the chapters I've already written and I must apologize for my seemingly horrible grammar. I see I'm always leaving out letters or even whole words, and I sometimes add letters or put the wrong word in, and that's after I proofread! But hey, I'm only human, and spell check only helps so much. but to think that if I didn't have it... okay, that's scary.

Sadly my minds gone blank on what else to say, except please, **please,** _please**, please, **_PLEASE review. Only one person has, and I'm grateful to you, but as to everyone else come on! Reviews tell a writer if the story is liked, along with critisism to further the writing ability. Your voice is wanted! And I'm trying not to sound like a begger! But seriously, or do I have to hold this story hostage? Becuase I might, or a might not, you never know with a writer that cut off her characters own wings and then grew them back. (evil laugh) XD


	26. Ready, Set, BOOM

**Chapter Twenty-Six**

**Ready, Set, Boom**

A snore, a roll, a muscle spasm and-

"Ow!" Razor jerked awake rubbing his side. He looked around and kicked Gorf who was lying beside him.

"Hey!" Gorf jerked awake and sat up. "What was that for?"

"You kicked me!"

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Listen flytrap…" Razor grumbled shaking a threatening fist.

"Knock it off," a voice said and both were smacked on the back of the heads as someone walked between them.

"Alex?" both of them asked and looked around. They were back in the large holding room, Bomber, Don, Sock and Slugger where beside them, all still asleep. Across the room the bomb specialists of the experiments stood around the numerous boxes of explosive chemicals by the window, arguing with each other on the way to get the best explosion to take the glass out. The swimming soldiers were jumping up and down in excitement while they were paired up with the ones willing to swim for freedom.

Razor unsteadily got to his feet. "What happened?" he asked.

"What, you seriously think we'd let you guys get that close to base and just go down?" Alex asked. "You guys got surrounded and gassed. We had to run out and rescue you. Everyone agrees, we're getting out of here and nothing's going to stop us. Gorf could you wake the other guys up?"

"So we're actually going to do this?" Razor asked.

"Yep," Alex nodded. "Everyone's being divided up into three groups by the way they want to leave. There's the window, the vents, or the elevator shaft. It's a hard decision for some."

"How so?"

"Well it's a matter of safety really." Alex shrugged. "The window's the safest route but there's the chance of drowning. The vents are okay but there's the whole being-confronted-with-robots-thing to look forward to, and they're the slowest way. And the elevator shafts are a more direct route without getting wet but the hardest to get to."

"So how are you going?" Razor asked.

"I'm taking the elevator, and you're needed in escorting the ones that can't swim."

"Oh so I don't get a choice?" Razor crossed his arms.

"Oh I'm sorry," Alex said with heavy sarcasm. "What would you choice be?"

"Swimming."

"Exactly."

On the floor Don rubbed his eyes as Bomber stood up beside him. Eli seemed to appear out of nowhere with her arms around his middle. Bomber picked her up and turned to Don. "Hey, I hope your plan works better than getting the supplies."

Don got to his feet. "Yeah, so do I. I just wasn't expecting the sleep gas."

"You're going up against stubborn scientists that won't let their life, and other's lives, work go," Bomber said. "Expect any and everything." With that he went over to the window to put his part into the arguing voices.

Don nodded. He was actually surprised that he hadn't thought of the sleep gas before, considering it had already been used on him once. With a sigh he looked around the room and started over to his three brothers. Mikey looked excited.

"Hey brainiac," Raph said. "Had a nice run in with robots 'ey?"

"There were too many, not to mention all the men with guns," Don said.

"Well it was a good thing you guys got so close then, huh?" Raph said, putting an arm around Don's shoulders. "Had to run in and save your butt."

"Raph knock it off," Leo said when a dark brown feather floated down between the brothers. Mikey, watching it, clapped his hands, trapping the feather in his grip.

From up above there was an angry exclamation. "I hate lasers!"

"Hey, featherhead's molting again!" Laughing followed from the fliers with featherless wings.

"Shut up!" Dev yelled at them as he clenched a small collection of lost feathers in his fist.

"What's with the fighting between the ones with feathered wings and the ones without?" Leo wondered aloud.

"Feathers are easily lost," Alex said, walking up to them. Razor was being paired with someone to take care of when they finally broke the great window. "Like molting for instance, or that was what the argument was about when I was still around. The reasons could have changed in the last ten years. Anyway," she changed the subject. "The explosive specialists have finally stopped arguing and started making the bombs. The big one's coming first, and then whatever's left over will be used to destroy the halls."

Mikey looked over at the window and turned that way. Alex caught him by the shirt before he could get very far.

"I'd suggest not going over there while they work."

"Why?" Mikey asked wanting to ask if he could detonate the big bomb before Gorf could beat him to it. Not thinking that he would be out of the room before the bomb would go off.

"Because not only do distractions set off unexpected explosions but they don't like you."

"Wha- why?" Mikey asked in a small hurt voice.

"I barely like you," Raph said. "But your family."

"Don't take it personal, Mike," Alex said comfortingly. "They don't like Gorf either… or DK… anyone that's hyper actually. Some of them have fuses that have been cut too short. Like that for instance" she pointed over at the window where Gorf was jumping around them. From what they could hear Gorf was asking what they were doing, if he could help, if he could hit the big red button when they were done.

"Go away Gorf!" came a chorus of irritated voices.

"Wait for it…" Alex said expectantly.

The frog-boy remained where he was and kept on talking. Finally a few of the tougher experts jumped him. They held him down, tied him up and Bomber dragged him away from the unmade bombs with a package duct taped to Gorf's chest that had a long piece of dark string trailing behind them. Bomber set him down across the room, lit the fuse, and walked away.

"Guys come on," Gorf called across the room. Bomber just waved over his shoulder. "Guys…" he said nervously watching the flame coming closer.

"See?" Alex said. "_That _could be you." She patted Mikey's shoulder.

"That's not a real bomb on his chest," Leo said shaking his head.

"Is it?" Don asked.

"You never can tell with the ones playing with explosives." Alex shrugged.

"We think most of them are insane," Razor said, walking over as he watched Gorf. "But we don't say anything. No one wants to wake up with the sound of ticking in your ear."

Gorf tried to blow out the fuse but the small flame just continued to creep towards him. "Guys come on!" he yelled out, jumping up and down in his spot. When no one moved to help him he just squeezed his eyes shut.

The bomb ran out of fuse and there was a small boom giving off a huge plum of black smoke. There was coughing as the smoke slowly cleared to show a blackened Gorf. Snickers came from the explosion specialists.

"A smoke bomb?" Don asked.

"As we say," Razor said shaking his head. "They're insane, but we don't say anything."

"Who'd you get paired up with?" Alex asked.

Razor rolled his eyes with a sigh. "DK. I can't get him to go through the vents. So I'm gonna be stuck with the smell of wet fur for a few days."

"You'll get over it," Alex assured him when Dev dropped down from above, the last of the loose feathers falling from his wings.

He looked down at them as they landed around his feet. "That's it. That's the last time I help someone out when there's fighting involved. I'm not going to have anything left at this rate." With a huff he turned to them. "Any idea when they'll be done over there?"

"Nope," Razor shrugged. "Why don't you go ask?"

"After what they did to Gorf?" Dev said pointing over his shoulder where Doc was untying the boy. "I may be an airhead but I'm no fool."

Alex coughed.

"Shut it skinflap."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

Ambrose Luben was now getting aggravated and frustrated as he watched their creations continue to think they could escape. He had to applaud when they figured a way to keep the door open without blowing through it, how they figured security would have to be split over three exits when the escape attempt was attempted, how they managed to steal the blueprints to the hallways – including the vents – and the entire closet of explosives.

It was amusing how the explosive specialists had grown such similar personalities and he had to admit it had been humorous how they handled the frog technician.

But what was annoying him was how _determined _the experiments were on this plan, which was hatched by one of the mutants no less. They no longer had a fear of the consequences and punishments that would come with the failed attempts. Even the skeptics were willing to try this plan of leaving.

He was also both impressed and angry about how they had set up their own kind of security around the entrances to the room. All the firearms experts stationed at the shafts and doorway loaded to the teeth, ready to fight back anything that tried to come their way.

Now he sat in his chair glaring at the monitors, chin resting on laced fingers. There was no choice but to watch them make their plans, dividing each other into groups by means of escape – as he understood it. All the swimmers were to go through the window with a good number of partners they were to aid on the way to the surface. The ones that wouldn't risk drowning were to go through the halls using the vents to the surface. In case the exits were sealed they had a set of bombs put aside for them. They also had a small pile of weapons in case the robots appeared in the narrow shafts. Then there were the most daring that refused to use the waters, but were too bulky for the vents (ie. a good number of the fliers) that went for the elevator shaft, the way his clone had first gone.

If they weren't necessary the elevators would have been sealed off years ago, but they were the only direct way to the surface for the scientists. All their supplies had to come down underground from somewhere.

It was obvious to him that the only way to stop this full scale rebellion was to wait for it to start, when they were spreading out to move to their exits – or so they would think.

He would let them have their fun, their planning, their ideas. But in the end Ambrose Luben never lost.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

It was taking longer than most thought to create the big bomb and then all the others, but after what the specialists had done to Gorf no one was really up to asking how much longer it was going to take. So while they did what they were created for, everyone else was briefed how the plan was going to go. The maps of the labs were shown in 3D holograms. The quickest routes outlined in yellow from the blue lines that created the hologram.

Everyone was starting to feel pretty confident that things were going to work, though they refrained from getting too confident or cocky. All of them, mutant and experiment alike, had been taught in more ways than one to never become cocky, or overconfident because anything could happen. One wrong move could destroy everything.

When the plans were laid out, and everyone seemed to understand them well enough, a feeling struck Alex.

"Hmph…" girl crossed her arms looking at the floor.

"What is it?" Don asked. "Don't tell me you're starting to have doubts."

Alex shook her head. "No, it's not that. It's just… I think… something tells me we're forgetting something."

"Like what?"

"I… don't know."

Razor, who was standing by her, suddenly brightened as it came to him. "It's not _what _we forgot, it's _who_ we forgot."

"Who?" Leo asked. They've been over how to escape hundreds of times. As a leader he didn't see anything majorly wrong with Don's idea – and that wasn't just him supporting his brother.

Razor turned to the corner by the window. "The one that's been sleeping through most of the planning."

"Aw crap…" Alex muttered under her breath. "You're right, how do we get him out of here?"

"Why not ask him?" Leo suggested.

Alex and Razor shrugged and walked to the corner. They pulled the blankets off the pile until they finally found the body underneath. The boy groaned and covered his face with one of the blankets he was still laying on. Alex pulled that one off and the two-hundred-year-old boy rubbed his eyes and groaned again.

_I never bothered you guys when you slept._

"Psych we need to talk," Alex said when there was a small boom from behind them. Alex and Razor turned around to see what it was and saw a blackened Mikey sitting dazedly tied up on the floor before he fell over on his back. Across the room Raph was quietly laughing to himself, Leo was glaring at his red masked brother, while Don had a hand over his eyes.

In front of them Psych tiredly got to his feet. _What is it?_

"How are you leaving this place?" they managed to ask in unison.

The boy looked up at them with the grey eyes of an old man. _Hm… That's a very good question._

"Psych…" Alex groaned. "We've spent how long planning, and you haven't thought about it?"

_I am a very, very, very old man. I get tired very easily. But also…_

"Also?" Razor repeated.

Psych looked down at his body. In comparison to everyone else he was the frailest of them all. There was barely any muscle on the aged bones, he wasn't very tall from his appearance's age, and practically anyone could pick him up with one hand. Not to mention he hadn't so much as touched a weapon in at least a century, and he told them this.

"I could take him up through the water, along with DK," Razor said. "It's probably the best way."

"Yeah, if you don't look at the fact that he has a more likely chance of not making it," Alex said pointing out that Psych only had one way to breathe. If he happened to get water in his lungs there was no possible way to get it back out.

"Even so," Razor said. "It's either that or risk him getting shot or accidentally falling behind."

While the two talked amongst each other like a pair of parents, Psych stretched and walked over to the bomb builders. Unlike everyone else, the scarf wearing bed head was welcome to see what they were doing.

"Dude, that's so unfair," Mikey pouted with crossed arms.

Gorf crossed his arms beside him, both still black from the smoke bombs. "Agreed."

...--...

Finally, after what felt like days, the big bomb was finished.

"Hey bug breath!" Bomber called.

"Oh, now you want me," Gorf said and turned away with crossed arms.

Bomber grumbled something under his breath and got up. He went across the room to Gorf and Mike who were still a shade of grey from the smoke bombs.

"I'm not helping," Gorf said defiantly with crossed arms. "So don't ask."

"Who said anything about asking?" bomber said and grabbed Gorf by the shirt. He carried the frog-boy over to the window and dropped him by the sacks of mixed chemicals just waiting for the moment to explode.

"I thought they didn't want Gorf over there," Don said.

_Normally they don't._

"Then why…?"

_Not only can Gorf stick to almost any surface allowing him to be able to place the explosives higher up on the wall, but him and a few choice others have been given a special kind of spit._

"Let me guess," don said. "Like how his body can stick to anything, his spit can let an object stick to anything."

Psych nodded. _Many think it to be gross, but it works really well._

"And with the explosives spread out it'll create a larger hole. But…"

_But?_

"Hopefully they don't spread them out too far apart so the impact won't be as a strong."

_I'm sure they'll be fine. This is practically all they know._

Being instructed from the floor, Gorf and a few others were crawling over the glass wall with packages of the explosives, wires and fuses reaching down to the floor. Using what they were given, the ones placing the bomb licked what they had in their hands and pressed the bags and sacks to the great window. By instruction the most of the bomb was being placed around the crack, which Alex had created when she punched the glass, as a weak point. The rest of the bomb was spread out some to create a larger exit.

While this was being done a few chosen ones that were going to be running through the hallways were picking up small bombs from a pile that had been set aside. The faster runners were taking more bombs as they would be taking detours on their way out of the labs, dropping bombs as they went.

Finally things were ready to go and the room was dividing up. Half the room was staying to go through the window, the other half going through the halls. Friends that were going separate ways said quick goodbyes to each other. None of them could ignore the fact that the whole plan was a risk, and there was a chance that any one of them wouldn't see the outside world. It was depressing, but it was the truth. There was always that chance, especially against rebellions.

Among the ones saying quick – and hopefully not final – goodbyes were Alex with the guys and Razor. Neither the guys or Alex were scared of drowning, and knew how to swim, but they could fight and it was only expected for the scientists to put everything they had to keep the experiments underground.

"Don't kill Psych."

"Why thank you _Alex_, good luck to you too," Razor said dryly. "Don't get caught."

"Ninja's never get caught," Mikey said.

"Hm…" Razor held up an elbow in one hand as he put a knuckle to his lip. "And yet here we are, basically prisoners by scientists. Great work _ninjas_."

"I told you guys not to go to the docks, but no one listens ta me," Raph said. "Which means…" He turned to one of his blue masked brother. "This is all Leo's fault."

Leo crossed his arms and opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Don.

"Guys don't start."

In the last few minutes before everything got started Alex undid the knot behind her head and held the black ribbon out to Razor. "Here,"

"What's this for?" Razor asked.

"A promise that I'm not gonna abandon you again," Alex explained simply. "Don't lose it."

Razor smiled and tied the ribbon around his scarred arm. He then pulled the bandana off his head and gave it to Alex. "Don't make off with this or I'll hunt you down."

Alex tied it around her arm. "Wouldn't expect anything less from the guy that tried to bite my hand off last time I took it."

"Yeah, sorry about that, but you know better than to steal my bandana."

Alex shrugged.

_Okay everyone, _the familiar voice said in their minds. _This is the only chance we have, let's do it right the first time, because there won't be a second. We're gonna get out of here and no one's getting left behind. I don't want to hear a single thought along the lines of 'every man for himself'. _Everyone's _leaving and _no one's _coming back. And to ensure that we're going out with a bang. Isn't that right guys?_

The explosive specialists gave a shout of pride.

_We were made to fight a war, and that's what we're going to do, the fight between creators and creations. They brought us into the world so we're going to fight for a good place in it. I'm talking about real skies, open waters, naturally living trees, living without the fear of lasers and robots at our backs. That's something we want right?_

"Right!" came a chorus of voices fixed into one.

_Alright then guys, I would think I'm too old for violence but- let's blow this place to kingdom come! You guys staying dry know the way, now get out of here!_

Shouts of excitement and rising adrenaline filled the air as the strongest and best with fire arms were the first out the door.

"Come one guys," Alex said and turned for the halls.

"See ya back at the lair Razor!" Mikey called as he followed his family out of the room.

"Alex I'll be waiting for that bandana!" Razor yelled after them.

"Don't lose my ribbon!"

Razor cupped his hands over his mouth. "I won't!"

_Wow, you gave up your bandana, _Psych sounded surprised (impressed?) as he appeared beside Razor when the last of the runners disappeared through the doorway.

"I trust her Psych," Razor said. He looked at the ribbon. "And she trusts me."

_Where'd the ribbon come from?_

"Mikey gave it to her."

_Family?_

"They're like a family. It's unspoken yet, but Mike believes it."

Psych patted him on the back. _I hope we see them again._

"I know we will," Razor said. "You ready for this?" he asked.

_I'm not getting any younger. _The boy's cheeks twitched in as much a smile as he could make.

"Okay then, where's fur ball?" Razor looked around when suddenly something latched onto his back making him stumble forward.

"This is gonna be awesome!" DK exclaimed right in Razor's ear.

"Chimp if you like being in one piece you'll get off!" Razor yelled behind him, spinning in circles trying to throw DK off.

_DK get off him and calm down. The more you yell the less breath you'll have and you'll need as much as we can get._

DK obeyed and stood on his own feet, though he was still quietly clapping to himself at the thought of actual trees to swing in and the open air to breathe. Anyone that had spent their entire existence in the labs would be excited, though some were more open to share it than others.

It was quieting down as the room waited for the sign to allow them to blow the window and flood the room. The seconds ticked by. If the signal didn't come then something went horribly wrong. But then, exactly three minutes after the last person that was staying dry left the room, there it was: a chain of explosions going down the hall. There was a low rumbling, and then a crash as the ceiling caved in, dirt and rock falling into the hall.

The second the passage was blocked one voice popped up. "Can I push it?"

Bomber made a fist, ready to knock Gorf's lights out as the frog-boy jumped pleadingly around him. He knew he couldn't though because Gorf was the one that was helping him and Eli up to the surface. So instead he passed the detonator down to Eli and picked her up.

"Aw…" Gorf pouted.

Eli looked at him and smiled with an idea. She beckoned with her free hand for him to come closer. Cupping her hands around his ear she whispered to him.

Gorf nodded with a wide smile when she was done. "I can do that."

"Okay we're good, hit the switch!" one of the explosive specialists called.

Like how Eli had said, Gorf punched both fists into the air and yelled "FRRREEEEEDOOOOOOM!" as Eli hit the button.

All bodies braced themselves as explosions shook their bones, pounded in their ears, and mercilessly attacked the glass. A chain reaction caused the smaller bombs to go off, further bombarding the great window.

But as they waited with held breathes they never felt the rush of water. The first ones to look around when nothing came couldn't believe it. When the smoke cleared there the window stood, still standing. A spider web of cracks stretched out across the bottom half, but they hadn't broken through.

"No…" Bomber muttered. It couldn't be right. That bomb they had created, it was supposed to work. Why didn't it? If that window didn't break they were all trapped in – entombed.

As disappointed (and a little scared) as everyone else, Razor went to the window. He looked up at the large sheet of glass, the one thing standing in their way. The world was right out there.

I can see it damn it! he yelled in his hand and hit his fists on the window.

Then he heard it. At first he wasn't sure what it was, it was so quiet. Slowly he lowered his fists and put an ear to the glass. Closing his eyes he covered the other ear up. There it was, inches away, faint crackling. _Crack_ling.

"It's still cracking…" Razor whispered opening his eyes and stepped away. The bombs weakened the glass enough to crack so it wasn't as solid. The cracks were deepest where the biggest bomb had gone off, Razor reasoned in his mind. But those cracks should have stopped when the explosions did, right?

Then it dawned on him and he smacked himself on the head for not thinking about it first. "Psych," he said turning to the boy who was standing by him. "Call the strongest ones forward, we're still getting out of here."

"How do you figure?" Bomber asked. There wasn't doubt in his voice for once, but curiosity.

"The bombs weakened the window considerably but they didn't break all the way through," Razor started to explain.

"Yeah, I can see that."

"But the glass is still cracking," Razor said. "Not spreading out, but going in."

Bomber looked at him like he was nuts. "…what?"

"Nature's helping us out here: its water pressure. The Hudson's what- at least two hundred feet at its deepest point. That means we could be at least a hundred feet below sea level. Rounded up that's about…" he hesitated to do the calculations from training a lifetime ago "fifty-nine- sixty pounds per square inch of pressure on the glass and that water wants in! The explosions did a lot of the work, but if we can weaken the weakest spot more the river will do the rest for us."

"So what do we do?" a voice asked from behind them. Razor turned to the room and saw a line of five or six of the strongest experiments remaining in the room, two of which had wings.

"Slugger?" Razor asked. "_You're _still here?!"

Slugger crossed his arms. "I don't like guns okay? So what do we do?"

Razor looked at the glass. "Where would you say is the center of the cracks?"

"Here," Gorf said pointing. "I know because this is where I had to dry my mouth out sticking the bomb on the wall."

Razor looked at Bomber, who shrugged, "He's got the spit."

"Okay," Razor said and turned to the line of experiments. "Who's the complete strongest?" All their hands went up and they glared at each other in disagreement.

Psych put a hand to his head. _Okay guys how about this: Bomber – who has two strong fists – hit the very middle. Slugger you're on his left. Bruiser on Bomber's right. Hook beside Slugger. Basher beside Bruiser. Okay now, Double D and Terry I want you two to fly up, get as much momentum as you can and plant kicks above their heads. Does that work for everyone?_

Double D, who had black feathered wings, and Terry, who had tan scaly wings, looked at Psych, at each other, at each other's wings then at the ones without wings. Looking back at each other they surprised some by clasping each other's hand like two good friends would.

"Let's show these wingless walkers how to do it, 'ey?" Double D said.

"Let's," Terry agreed and they lifted off with a hard down beat.

High up on the far wall they hovered and called down "Ready when you are!"

Psych backed up some, as did Razor with Eli, to give them some room.

"Okay guys," Razor said. "All together now!" The ones punching nodded and thrust their balled up fists at the wall as hard as they could, while up above Terry and Double D came dropping down head first at an angle using gravity to help them. At the last second they flipped over and thrust their feet out to connect with the glass. But the only results were popped knuckles and hurt legs.

Razor wrinkled his nose in annoyance at the window. "Try another time," he said.

The boys on the floor shook the ache from their hands as the fliers lifted back up. They tried again, the five punched with six fists while the two in the air kicked. Still they didn't seem to get anywhere except for hurting themselves.

With an irritated growl Razor went up to the glass and put an ear to the cracks, when suddenly something wet was squirted in his ear. "Ah!" he exclaimed in surprise and stumbled back with a hand to the attacked ear. He looked at the glass and saw relief streaming from one of the cracks, falling to the floor like a tiny sideways fountain.

_Okay everyone back up, when the window breaks there's going to be glass everywhere, _Psych commanded excluding the ones that were hitting the window. _The ones helping these guys to the surface come forward. Now you guys, try one last time. With as much force as you can. _As the commands were issued out more spouts of water squirted between the cracks in the glass, it looked like Mother Nature was looking out for them.

As instructed the aquatic soldiers stepped forward ready to grab who they were assigned when the time came. As they did Razor grabbed Psych, picking the small body up while DK wrapped his monkey tail around Razor's waist.

Then, as if it had been practiced, all seven of the ones breaking through the glass hit the wall at the exact same time. And it worked. The glass seemed to implode and sent Terry and Double D right into the Hudson feet first. But before they got out the water got in, knocking everyone back.

The swimmers immediately went into action. They grabbed who they were supposed to, let them get a big breath and dove into the water as the large room quickly flooded.

"I'm gonna need at least one hand," Razor said as his dorsal fin extended, the water level hurrying to knee height. Psych nodded and wrapped his arms around Razor's neck, legs around the shark-boy's middle, covering up only two out of six gills. "DK you have to kick with me," Razor commanded as he took DK's hand. The monkey-boy nodded, grip tightening as he realized just how much water there was as it started to pass their waists. "Okay guys, big breath and hold on."

There were two gasps and plugged noses before Razor leapt into the water, ducking into the hole and shot for the surface. It was harder with the weight of two bodies weighing him down but Razor pulled with his free hand and kicked for all he was worth. He could feel the water getting caught in the webbing between his fingers as he climbed through the hundred feet of water. Beside him DK was kicking like crazy. It looked like he was going to exhaust himself before he ran out of breath.

All around them there were similar cases; the ones that could breathe dragging the ones that couldn't through the water as fast as they could. All of the ones trained to be underwater knew that the sudden changes of pressure couldn't be good for the bodies but there wasn't much they could do but hurry before anyone suffocated. With their webbing, slim bodies, and muscles naturally the ones made for swimming were faster than the average human, but it was still chance if everyone could last on only one breath.

They were almost there when it started happening. Lungs running out of oxygen, bubbles escaping mouths and noses, bodies jerking, panicking, and finally the ones going limp. These signs only made the aquatic soldiers hurry, fighting the last few feet of airless liquid. They refused to be so close and then not be able to share freedom with the ones that had put their lives in their fins.

A grey, scarred, webbed hand broke the water surface first and slapped down, bringing two heads up, quickly followed by a third. One gasped and coughed, naturally figuring out how to float and unwrapped his tail from his helper's middle, gulping in new open air. Another one blew out the nose, water dribbling down the mouthless face until the nasal passages were clear enough for him to breathe.

Around them more heads broke the surface and the same happened. Coughing, spluttering, gasping, splashing as they tried to float, and finally silent awe at the world around them.

"Guys look at that," Razor whispered with a wide smile, holding Psych up on his knee. "The whole moon's out to greet us. I don't think I've ever seen it that big either."

A wind rippled the water and a lot of the experiments couldn't believe where they were, even if they could see, hear, _feel _it. Outside, the surface, the open world.

And then, someone couldn't contain it – it was probably Gorf – and yelled out into the night. The yell was quickly accompanied by plenty more, until finally the ones with more sense slapped hands over mouths, including Razor's over DK's.

Then it was said what everyone knew.

_Okay everyone, we can't stay here forever. I know a lot of you have decided where you'd go if you got the chance. So go. We're free, now leave and take advantage of it._

That's when everyone truly understood that they would be split up from most everyone they ever knew. Especially the one they had always known.

"Psych where are you gonna go?" someone asked.

And then it happened.

Before the boy could even think about his answer he was suddenly dragged under. _Razor!_ The voice hit them all. It wasn't accusing or angry like if Razor was being selfish in keeping Psych to himself, but instead it was more like a desperate calling to help _for _Razor.

There was bubbling at the surface before Razor and Psych appeared again. As soon as they came up Razor pushed Psych away from him, DK quickly grabbing the body before it went back under. "Razor?" DK asked as the shark-boy coughed.

"R- ro-" Razor tried to say but couldn't spit it out between coughs. "Rob-" before he could finish he was pulled under again, then lifted up into the air in the grip of a metal clamp at the end of a long wire. It lifted at least five feet into the air before pulling straight down, taking Razor with it.

_Everyone out of the water now!_

Everyone was quick to oblige. They may be out of the labs but they weren't free yet. Did the scientists ever give up?!

The closest dry land was the island sitting under the Statue of Liberty. The aquatic soldiers pushed and pulled the ones that couldn't swim up out of the river, and the ones meant for underwater battles dove right back in.

No man left behind.

...--...

Razor struggled against the clamp around his middle. Not only was it crushing him but it was blocking off most of his gills. He could feel the machine dragging him down, down, down under, back to the labs.

How long has this thing been under here? Razor wondered as he wrenched. In the dark murkiness of the water he could barely make out the black mass that was his predator.

When suddenly there was something pulling on the clamp that had him, and the muffled sound of metal crunching. When the metal started to limply fall away Razor knew he wasn't alone. It was confirmed when a hand hit him on the back.

Then out of nowhere beams of light appeared, illuminating the dirty water. The lights were in a ring around the robot that was attacking. And, in all truth, the machine looked like a giant underwater bug-robot.

Such creativity… Razor thought sarcastically. Then he saw the reason the robot had turned the lights on. Spread out in the water was the entire fleet of underwater fighters, all of them like Razor in a way with the human body combined with stingrays, electric rays, eels, water snakes, most species of sharks, and he knew one of them that had crab _and _octopus DNA.

Floating beside Razor was Stripes (known for his black and grey striped hair, and the dark stripes that went down his back) who, like Razor, had a mouth full of sharp teeth from his shark genes. Stripes gave him a fighter's sinister smile and Razor returned it.

There was no one yelling "Charge!", or even a true signal for the group to advance. It was more instinct than anything as everyone attacked as one. Shooting forward through the water and started tearing the robot apart through anger, hate, adrenaline, and because they liked the sound and feel of crunching metal in their mouths, while others liked the sight of twisted metal scraps falling to the dark depths.

Of course the robot fought back, seeming to brandish an impossible number of arms equipped with too many different attachments both offensive and defensive. There were mines that floated around until accidentally touched, torpedoes zooming out in collision paths that were barely dodged, long wires with an electric touch, and sharp wires like fast, flexible spears, the familiar metal clamps lashing out to hold a body defenselessly down… Shields and defending lasers blocked their paths to the main body of the robot as the small aquatic army tried to destroy the electronic beast by biting into the power core, and to do that they would have to literally get under its skin and into the mechanics.

One tiger shark managed to squeeze passed the defenses and tore into the exoskeleton of the bug-robot with his teeth. But as the loose metal dropped to the bottom of the river, Stripes was taken by surprise when a cannon looked out at him from the opening he had just created. Before he could move away it shot out a large mechanical spider that latched it spindly legs around his torso, restraining his arms to his sides, and knocked him back.

On the robot a second cannon appeared, this one shot a green glob that seemed to cut through the water right at his head. Stripes tried to dodge but couldn't steer with just his legs. Right before the green stuff hit, though, a body appeared before him took the shot.

The glob of green wrapped around Razor's middle, the force of the shot knocking them both back until they hit the rock wall of the Hudson. Bubbles of air floated from Razor's mouth and as he sank down, clawing at the glob around him that covered up his gills. Running out of air Razor quickly moved for the surface. He got as far as his arm breaking through the water before a metal clamp caught his leg and yanked him back down.

Psych, who was sitting on a rock near the water, heard the voice reaching out for him, for anyone. He quickly looked around for the one closest to the river. A few experiments had already left, mainly the few with wings, including Terry and Double D. _Gorf, _Psych saw first. _Razor can't breathe, get him up here._

Gorf quickly got to his feet and jumped in the water. It only took him a moment to find the struggling shark. He had already bitten the clamp off his leg, but couldn't get to air as more wires grabbed at him to keep him underwater.

Some of the fighters had also seen the trouble of covered up gills and came to help. They kept the robot busy as Gorf grabbed Razor and pulled him to the surface.

Razor gasped and coughed as frog dragged shark to land. "Thanks Gorf," Razor said breathlessly as he climbed out of the water.

"No problem," Gorf said. "I'm glad they figured gills were better off behind the ear before they made me."

"Yeah lucky you…" Razor grumbled and looked down at himself. "How do I get this stuff off?"

Gorf felt the green blob with his hands. "I remember these. Give it a minute to dry and it peels right off."

That was one of the longest minutes in Razor's life. When he started pulling the gunk off his gills it was still damp and stuck like a huge Band-Aid, hurt as much taking it off too. After he managed to get most of it off he ran to the sunken battle muttering angrily "No robot pushes me out of the water…"

By the time he had gotten back to the fight the experiments had already dismembered most of the limbs of the giant bug-robot. Now they were dealing with the mechanical spiders that clung to body parts like cement until someone could either pull or bite them off.

As time ticked on it was growing clear the aquatic soldiers were winning, and with this idea becoming a hard fact as the robot was dismantled strip by strip they continued to fight harder than ever. It wasn't just _a _fight against robots but _thee _fight, the final fight against the labs. If they won this fight they would be free, away from scientists and wasting away in one room until they were destroyed to make room for the new and improved.

Then finally, in the final attack, a group of seven sharks gathered along with a frog. No words, no signals were needed for them to know what to do. The looks in their eyes were big enough signs. With a single nod each they swam for the robot like the torpedoes that were out to greet them, Razor dragging Gorf by the hands since sharks were faster than frogs.

The body of the robot was covered in holes where chunks of metal had been striped away in the battle. Gorf, who remembered seeing the designs for the robot, led the final blow down beneath their opponent while it was distracted with the other soldiers in the water. He went to the middle of the underbelly of the giant bug and pointed at a spot. Here three of the sharks put their mouths to work, scraping their teeth on the metal until a hole was made, from there they pulled the metal back in chunks and strips until there was a large enough hole for someone to work their way in.

Stripes put a hand on Razor's back – the action would have been a slap if the Hudson hadn't absorbed the force of the motion. All of them knew that Razor had a numb enough mouth to go through the electrical wires and not get electrocuted.

Razor gave a quick nod and got to work as the others got ready to block the path when the robot reached underneath it to stop the attack on its insides.

The boy clawed, yanked, wrenched, bit, cut, and tore his way through the circuitry, making as much destruction as possible as he made his way deeper into the scientists' creation. Sparks from cut wires shot out and stung him, nuts and bolts scraped at the inside of his cheeks as they were crushed, gears tried to suck his hands into their teeth but he had been created and trained to know how to handle these things without major injury. Yes it stung, it throbbed and ached but he could handle it. He could always handle it.

Finally he reached the dark heart of the mechanical monster. A red glowing orb with wires branching out from it, the case to the core was glass and clear. Razor reached his hands out through all the stringy wires. He could cup the thing in his palms and that's when he decided he was going to keep it. With teeth like wire cutters he snapped through the connections to the rest of the robot and held the heart of the best in his hands, the energy still glowing inside it.

When the last wire was cut the entire robot immediately shut down and started to sink to the bottom of the Hudson. There was a moment of tired victory outside until the soldiers figured that someone was inside the robot and everyone hurried to grab it and struggled to keep it off the river's floor.

Knowing he had only so much time before his exit was covered up with mud and rock, Razor didn't waste much time as he quickly backed out through his line of destruction. When he emerged out from under the robot the giant hunk of broken metal was dropped to forever rust in the murky depths. Victorious the soldiers swam up to the surface and gave a yell of their own up into the night, Razor brandishing the robot's core like a trophy up over his head.

From there, when the water's were now deemed safe, goodbyes were being given. Those that could fly were taking off as the swimmers were taking those that were stranded to the main land to finally start there lives. They knew how to blend in; they were trained how to survive and hide what they were. Life would be tough at first, but life would also be free if they were careful.

Psych had offers from every experiment to stay with them in their newly won lives but finally in the end (and to the sadness of many) he had decided to stay with Bomber and Eli who were going to stay in the US, though where exactly Bomber had yet to decide.

It didn't take long for the island to become deserted, experiments not waiting for the ones that had stayed dry to catch up, friends agreeing to meet back up in agreed cities around the world. Soon the only ones left on the shore of the island were Razor and Gorf.

"Where you going?" Razor asked curiously.

"I don't know," Gorf shrugged. "I don't actually have a single place I want to go."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I think I'm gonna stay in New York for a while, see what the place has to offer."

For a moment Razor actually considered offering Gorf a place for a while, but he remembered how crowded the couch was when he had to share it with Alex, and there was already seven bodies in the lair, there couldn't be enough room for eight.

Before he could say anything though Gorf put a hand on his shoulder. "See ya around Ray."

"Yeah, see ya around."

With that the two jumped into the water and swam their different ways.

* * *

This could be an ending right here, but don't worry, its not. This is only the begining of the end. Now I would have included the happenings of the turtles, Mikey and Alex but that would have made this chapter impossibly long, so that's going to be the next chapter. And from there the story will be coming to a close - I told you there would be an ending. Though I am thinking of a sequal, but... I'm not one for promises.

Anyway, here ya go, Razor's escape, the others will follow... or will they?

Keep reading to find out...

REVIEW!


	27. Almost Everyone

**Chapter Twenty-Seven**

**Almost Everyone**

"Don't lose my ribbon!" Alex yelled over his shoulder.

"I won't!" she heard Razor call after them as they ran through the doorway and into the hall.

"What's with Razor and that bandana anyway, Al?" Mikey asked as they ran. Everyone was in a hurry. Now that they had a chance they wanted out as soon as possible.

"It's a memory," Alex said a hint of sadness in her voice.

"Girlfriend?" Raph asked.

"No," Alex shook her head when they reached the intersection. Of course they were met with resistance but it didn't stop them. Everyone at the front of the line of escapees jumped right into the action. The robots were taken care of with one hit each to ensure the least amount time wasted. The turtles, and human Mikey, didn't hesitate to help. They didn't draw out the fighting having an entire group to move forward when the back of the line were carrying bombs with timers to destroy their tracks. Every fight was a one hit, maybe two if they missed. Some just ran straight passed the enemy trusting the ones behind them to get rid of the muscle men and robots and if not the bombs would do the trick.

Alex and the guys were heading down their second hall when the explosions started way behind them, quickly followed by the sound of the ceiling collapsing and the Earth refilling the space that had been hollowed out.

"Razor was a special case when he developed," Alex started to explain. "Before he was fully developed his atoms split twice the usual amount. It was relative to a natural human birth."

"Like when the egg splits," Don said.

"Egg- what?" Mikey asked confusedly.

"Nothing Mike," Don quickly said, his younger brother still believing the white lie about the Stork.

Up ahead a swarm of bug-robots appeared. The ones in front of them took the robots out with guns, leaving the sparking shells to be trampled on.

"So that means," Don started.

"Razor had a real blood brother," Alex said and twirled to slice a robot in half when they entered another four-way intersection. The ones ahead had already moved on and the bug-robots were coming in from two directions. It was a quick struggle as Leo, Raph, and Alex took them out with their steel, Don and Mikey directing the enemy towards the ones that could slice. "It was the reason Razor had something of a last name," Alex continued when she led the way down the halls. "Sharp Mouth was his name. Sharp and Razor, the two were inseparable, a real team in training we were told. The green bandana was Sharp's, Razor had a blue one."

"What happened to Razor's?" Mikey asked.

"Destroyed in a training session, an explosion from a torpedo," Alex said. "Heard it almost took Razor's head but the bandana was all that was damaged."

"What happened to Sharp?" Leo asked.

Alex was quiet for a moment. Explosions could be heard behind them. As planned the fastest runners had split up down the halls going on their own with a pack of bombs, dropping them at intervals.

A turn was coming up ahead. Alex ran forward and spun, tail lashing out. There was a small yell that quickly stopped, followed by a dull thud. When the guys rounded the corner a man with a large gun lay facedown on the ground with blood pooling out around him. Alex just continued forward, blood dripping from one of the blades on her tail.

"The scientists were working on a new healing agent that could heal any wound if a doctor wasn't around or if you couldn't heal fast enough," Alex continued with the story. "They needed a test subject. It was random picks for things like that, and to those bastards Razor and Sharp were merely each others spares, like having two of one thing. Of course Sharp didn't want to go but Psych couldn't get a hand in and Razor was knocked out with a blow to the head. The green bandana was dropped in the struggle before he was hauled out the door. Needless to say Sharp was never seen again. First and last time Razor ever cried."

The next intersection was an electronic massacre. The scientists were getting desperate. When there was nothing but sparks and whirls left Alex kicked one of the dead shells. "That was almost eighteen years ago."

They silently continued forward. Throwing off clusters of robots here, dodging bullets and lasers there, defending those that actually got hurt and helping them forward leaving explosions in their wake. The group that was going for the vents had already left.

"We're almost there," Alex said after a while.

"Finally…" a voice said. Alex glanced over her shoulder to see Dev behind Mikey. The tips of a few feathers on his right wing were singed. "I'm ready to spread my wings."

"Or what's left of them," Mikey said holding up the feather he still had.

"Shuddup before I shoot you," Dev grumbled grumpily holding up a gun. "And give me that!"

"No!" Mikey refused and moved before Dev could reclaim his feather.

"Give it, its mine!" Dev shouted over the explosions.

Determined to keep the feather as a memento Mikey sped up and Dev chased after him.

"Mike, just give it back," Leo called after them as an intersection came up.

"No!" Mikey called back stubbornly as he left the hall. A few steps into the intersection he was knocked sideways and Dev jumped back.

"Mike!" the brothers and Alex exclaimed and hurried forward. When they got there Mikey was struggling inside a net and bug-robots and muscle men were waiting for them. Leo and Raph attacked the robots and men, Dev shooting with the gun, and the ones that continued out of the hall quickly joined the fight as Alex went to Mikey.

"Mph, what's with this thing?!" Mike exclaimed as he fought with the net, but his struggling was only making him further entangled with the metallic rope.

"Stop moving, you're making it worse," Alex said and grabbed the net to pull it off when an electric current rushed through the rope. Mike yelled with the electrocution as Alex's jaw clenched and she went cross eyed in the pain coursing up her arm. Finally Alex pried her fist open and fell back; her whole arm was tingling with lost feeling.

"What's wrong?" Don asked.

"The net's electric," Alex said.

"Here," Don said and put his wooden staff through one of the holes in the net and out another one. He lifted the net off and helped Mikey to his feet as Alex got up. "You okay?"

"I think," Mikey said shakily as he looked at the light burn marks on his arms were the net had been touching him.

"Come on," Alex said knowing they needed to press on. But as she ran forward something happened that she didn't know could happen in the halls. The floor suddenly disappeared and she was falling.

"Alex!" Mikey yelled, and without even a first thought about it, jumped into the hole in the ground after her.

"Mikey!" Raph called and jumped after his brother.

Not wanting to be separated again Don and Leo followed. When they disappeared down the hole the floor replaced itself like the hole had never been there and the experiments continued on not knowing what just happened.

The five of them were falling down a long dark shaft. It was too narrow for Alex to spread her wings but when she looked down she could see a square of light quickly coming to greet her.

One minute they were in the hallways, the next they were falling, and the next they were in a heap on the floor.

"Get. Off." Alex commanded underneath the four bodies. They moved and Alex stood up to look around. They were in a white room with no openings save for the one they had just fallen out of in the high ceiling. There was machinery on the ceiling and a semisphere beside it. There were more machines on the floor placed underneath the ones above. Up on one of the walls was a darkly tinted window with the shape of someone behind the secretive glass.

"Now where are we?" Raph asked.

"A place your little friend is very familiar with," a voice said from an unseen speaker.

"Ambrose…" Alex growled looking up at the window with black fists. "I've never been in here," Alex added to her friends.

"Oh I wasn't talking about you," Ambrose said. "I meant that other one who is uselessly trying to destroy the window so everyone left in that room will drown. An interesting suicide."

"It's not suicide, Razor wouldn't let anyone drown," Alex argued.

"Or so you think," Ambrose said. Now both Alex and Raph were ready to knock the guy out. There was just something about him that got on a person's nerves. It might have been the fact that this was the guy that had been holding them against their will.

Alex swore under her breath. "This is where you cut Razor isn't it?"

"Enough about something that's not here," Ambrose said and they could see the scientist's silhouette wave the accusation off. "Right now let's discuss what's going to happen to you, _Alex_. Your friends come up with a way to attempt to destroy my life's work, and if there's one thing I hate more than dealing with myself its being outsmarted." Overheard explosions could be heard going off. "And since there doesn't seem to be a way to pull all of my work back at the moment, I'll just have to deal with you five for the time being."

"And how do you propose to do that?" Alex challenged, the skin around her eyes darkening in anger at her creator.

The simishpere on the ceiling opened up. The group quickly jumped up at seeing the blades on the end of the numerous mechanical arms.

"So what are you going to do?" Alex asked as she backed out of range of the machines reach. "Kill us?"

"Al, don't give him ideas!" Mikey said.

"Over the past twenty-five years I have grown to understand that creating you has been a problem and I see now that not doing anything drastic enough has been a mistake on my part," Ambrose said as the sharp arms of the machine lashed out at them. Dodging was all they could do until someone figured out how to destroy the machine.

In the back of Leo's mind he knew that they needed to hurry before the bombs that were being dropped overhead buried them alive.

Don knew this to. But how do they leave? Surely if Ambrose was still there then there could be an emergency escape somewhere that the experiments didn't know about. Maybe it was on the other side of that window.

Both also knew that if they didn't figure something out it was either possibly die to the machine, or be buried by rubble.

Up by himself in the control room, Ambrose's hands danced over a custom keyboard. "Okay you little annoyance," he muttered to himself. "It's about time you stood still and worked for me." With a few keystrokes a section of the wall slid to the side and a pair of mechanical arms, with clamps for hands, reached out.

Raph saw them reaching for Don's turned back. Moving was faster than acting so he shoved his brother out of the way, and Alex shoved him out of the way just as the clamps closed catching her around the middle, pressing an arm to her side.

"Let's test out a new bug I've been working on," Ambrose said. A small robotic bug the size of a half dollar appeared out of the same hole in the wall. It buzzed towards her. Alex swatted at it with her free arm, she tried to hit it with her tail but it wouldn't stay still long enough to get smacked. It landed on her arm and crawled across the skin. Alex tried to shake it off but instead of leaving it produced tiny pincers and bit down.

Alex winced and was forced to watch as the bug broke her skin and burrow in. The guys couldn't do anything without hurting her; all they could do was stand by and watch while dodging the original robotic arms from the ceiling.

"Okay, that's gross," Mikey commented as the robot traveled under Alex's shirt and up her neck. She groaned and squirmed feeling the bug go passed her hair line and a tiny drill went through her skull. Finally the thing attached itself to her brain and she went rigid as it gave off an electric charge, and then passed out.

Up in the safety behind the window Ambrose smiled. He commanded the robot arms to release the body letting it crumple to the floor. "I'll risk a very old cliché," he said into the microphone. "And let your 'friend' take care of things for me." With a few keystrokes the semisphere folded back up into the ceiling, and sent a command signal to the bug. Hitting a last button a timer started on the control panel and the scientist started to walk away with a final sentence, "Have fun X, too bad I won't see you after this."

"Kid?" Raph said cautiously kneeling down beside the body.

"Come on Al, wake up, we gotta get out here," Mikey said hearing the explosions going off overhead getting louder as they neared.

Don knelt down too and grabbed her shoulder. At his touch the girl's eyes snapped open, pupils vertical slits, skin around the eyes already black. In a sudden move Alex twisted to her feet. Raph and Don had to leap back before the bladed tail took their heads off.

"Alex it's us!" Don exclaimed in surprise. Ignoring his call their friend turned on them. Large claws scratching, tail striking. Not wanting to hit back the guys dodged and blocked blows. But it was becoming hard.

"How'd this kid get so good?" Raph asked as he jumped to the side before a claw hit him across the face.

"You saw what happened on that rooftop," Leo said blocking her tail with a sword. "Alex knows how to fight when regular emotions aren't blocking her mind."

"Well she doesn't have to show us!" Mikey exclaimed barely jumping out of the way before he lost an arm.

Raph dodged another attack, grabbed the girl by the tail and threw her against the wall. "Kid snap out of it before I knock some sense back into ya."

Alex jumped back to her feet, tail clanging against the floor as she moved forward.

Don recognized the numerous taps after spending hours trying to memorize them. ... - -- .--. -- . Immediately after the quick message the girl attacked again.

"Alex stop it," Don said using his staff to block an ax blade with his back against a wall. "You can fight it."

"N-no, I can't," she hissed, yanked her tail back and spun.

Don tried to jump to the side but wasn't fast enough to dodge a slice to the arm. He dropped his staff as he put a hand to the cut, blood seeping down.

Before Alex could get another hit she was grabbed by the shirt collar and thrown back. "Alright kid," Raph said drawing his sais. "If you won't I'll stop ya myself."

Alex put up her claws to the challenge. She made the first move and jumped forward with claws scratching aiming for anything that could bleed. The girl's attacks were merciless as she pushed Raph back until he hit the wall. She kept him busy with her claws as her tail whipped around and cut him just below the knee before it was grabbed and pulled. The leg collapsed.

"Damn it!"

Alex turned to see who had pulled her tail and found Leo. "Alex we don't want to hurt you."

If their friend heard him it was impossible to tell as she attacked him. In the fierceness of the attacks he was forced to use his blades though he only used one. He hoped maybe if they knocked her out… In self-defense he sliced with his sword. But instead of dodging, Alex caught it in her blackened fist, the blade not even breaking the skin.

They locked eyes and Leo saw it. Behind the cold blooded demon that the robotic bug was controlling was the Alex they knew, and she watching from the inside, unable to do anything.

Then she said something. He didn't catch it at first. "Stop me…" Her voice was a volume below a whisper. Right after Leo understood her she twisted the sword and spin kicked. He blocked it with his arm, but it was only a cover up for her tail. He met it steel against steel.

With the tail busy Alex brought up her claws. But before she could strike Mikey grabbed one of her wings and pulled back. On reflex she whipped around, jumped and planted a kick with both feet to the chest, knocking him back until he hit the wall head first. As he slid to the floor in a daze Alex came forward, stained tail raised.

Mikey blinked focus into his eyes and pushed against the wall when he saw the look on his friend's face. It was demonic, murderous. "A-Al? Alex, come on, it's me Mike, remember?"

Talking wasn't working. The only thing going through the girl's mind was that she could pick between two targets, the heart or the throat. But before the tail could swing Don used his staff to leap forward and kicked her aside.

With a growl she lashed out at him but Raph caught the tail blade with a sai. He was keeping weight off his bad leg after somewhat bandaging it with his mask. Alex was about to take advantage of that when she sensed someone behind her. She twirled and jumped forward at the same time to attack but suddenly stopped, stunned at a sharp pain. The crimson blade protruded from her back as she looked down to see a katana going in her chest.

Leo couldn't believe what he had just done as he watched the blood spread on her shirt, trickle down his weapon, and drip on the floor. Alex slowly looked up at him, into his eyes. Her mouth twitched as it slowly curled into a smile before her knees buckled. Leo was barely holding the sword so when the weight grew on the blade it tilted down allowing the body to slide off.

All three of them dropped down, Leo dropping his katana, and Mikey quickly crawling over.

"Alex I'm sorry," Leo said while Don pressed a hand to the wound, but it was no use as a pool of blood seeped out from her back. That wasn't supposed to happen, Leo thought. I didn't mean to. Why didn't she block it? I didn't… she walked right into it.

"Al? Alex!" Mikey exclaimed, not wanting to believe it. Everything seemed to stop then. It didn't seem real that someone they knew could die, just like that, and by their own hand. It wasn't right, it couldn't be right, but Don's face said otherwise when he checked for a pulse.

None of them moved, while up above in the control room the timer Ambrose had set ticked down. 4… 3… 2… 1…

Suddenly a huge explosion blew up the glass in the window. The room shook around them as shards of glass fell to the floor.

"What the-" Raph started looking around when the machinery overhead started to spark and smoke on its own.

Don look up. "The place is self destructing!"

"Why!" Mikey asked as the machine over head started to explode as the ground continued to shake.

Don noticed the empty space through the window. "Ambrose must have set it when he left."

Leo looked at the window too. "There must be a way out through there. Come on," he stood up. "This place is going up and it's going to take us with it."

Raph and Don understood this and got to their feet. Leo had already gone to the wall. Raph stood opposite of them and put their hands together as a step. Don put his foot on their fingers and they basically threw him up to the window. Being careful of the broken glass Don got into the control room.

"Mikey you next," Leo said but their youngest brother didn't move, just knelt there by the body.

The machines on the ground beside the two started to smoke and spark.

"Michelangelo!"

The blonde human didn't seem to hear him. Raph and Leo looked at each other. With a sigh Raph went to Mikey and grabbed his shoulder. "Come on," he said pulling Mikey to his feet. "She's gone Mike, now let's go before we are too."

Mikey silently nodded and turned away. Raph and Leo pushed him up to the window. Don helped him climb in as Raph helped Leo up, then the three in the control room pulled Raph up.

The room was small and simple. Against the back wall was a door. They went through it and found a hallway with doorways branching off. At the end of the hall was a set of double doors and an 'UP' button. Leo pried it open realizing he only had one sword. He'd left the other in the other room, but there wasn't time to go get it.

Like they thought the doors were to an elevator shaft. Don looked up it. "I think it leads all the way up."

Across the dark empty space were the cables connected to the counter balance. If they could jump across alleys they could jump the gap… hopefully. From there if they cut the cables then the elevator would fall and make an express route to the top level which was hopefully the surface.

Leo told of his idea and Don nodded. "It could work."

Luck was on their side as they jumped across the gap and held onto the cables as well as they could. Down below the largest explosion sent of a plume of smoke in through the open elevator doors. The ending to the rapid climb was tricky as they neared the roof of the shaft and would have collided if they hadn't let go and grabbed the ladder ruts sticking out of the wall. At the very top of the wall a square could be slid to the side. Raph was at the top of the ladder and forced a sai into the crack to pry the cover open. He smiled when he was greeted by the sounds of the city.

Climbing out of the shaft they found the foundation of the Statue of Liberty beside them and a full moon above. The island was quiet around them, the sounds of city night life floating across the Hudson River.

Looking at where they had come from, a fake bush was sitting atop the cover of the shaft. After a moment of consideration they pushed the cover back over the hole and headed for the shore, Raph trying to hide a limp from his hurt leg.

"Come on guys, let's go home," Leo said. Two brothers nodded while Mikey kept looking over his shoulder.

...--...

When the four walked into the lair they were met with the sound of the TVs going. A pair of grey, four-toed, webbed feet sat on the top of the couch as the channels were constantly flipping between each other, like the person with the remote was bored – or nervous.

At the sound of numerous footsteps the feet disappeared and Razor sat up. At the sight of them his mouth split into a wide smile and he jumped the couch, running up to meet them.

"Don, it's weird to say, but I love you man! It worked, everyone with me made it!" he exclaimed happily. "How'd you guys do? And what took so long, I was starting to get nervous."

"Some… things happened," Leo said quietly.

At the familiar voice Master Splinter came from his bedroom. He stood there a moment, as if he didn't believe it. Then he came forward smiling. "My sons, I am glad to know you are all alright. Razor has explained to me what has happened."

"Which was harder than it sounds…" Razor muttered under his breath.

If Splinter heard he didn't show it and turned to Mikey. "Michelangelo, Razor has also told me about you. You may look different but you are still my son. But… what's troubling you?"

Razor noticed the uncomfortable looks on the four- _four_? He did a head count: four guys. He also noticed that Leo was missing a sword. His smile shrank. "Guys, where's Alex?"

None of them looked at him as Leo said "Razor, we- I…"

Razor's face dropped like a stone. "I get it," he told the floor, hand going to the ribbon still tied around his arm. "It was too good to be true anyway," he muttered turning away. "A plan where everyone got away good and forever free – a stupid fantasy."

"Razor, we're sorry," Don started. "It wasn't supposed-"

"No, it's fine," Razor said. "Better fifty than none, right?"

Raph blinked. That was exactly what he had told Don when they were first talking about blowing up the big window.

"One out of hundreds," Razor continued. "Lucky it wasn't more." He stopped before his voice started to shake.

Don looked at his bloody hand and closed the fist. He stepped forward and put his clean hand on the boy's shoulder. "You gonna be okay?"

Razor turned his face away, bit his lower lip and swallowed. "I'm fine."

* * *

There all you fan girls (and boys?), you're shelled heros are fine (though Mikey is shell-less). I'm a mean writer that kills my own characters. Poor Razor, first Sharp and now Alex... moment of silence if ye will...

To tell the truth I'm not actually sure if the hole elevator thing is possible, but its either that or the guys get blown up, which do you perfer?

Just a few more chapters until the end. There might be a few more suprises in the end, and I just remembered something: what ever happened to Casey??

Keep reading to find out.

REVIEW!! (please?)


	28. Red Salt Water

**Chapter Twenty-Eight**

**Red Salt Water**

Don jerked awake and lifted his head. He rubbed a hand against his cheek feeling the grid pattern dented into the skin. He remembered trying to keep his mind occupied, since sleep had avoided him while he was actually in bed, and had fallen asleep at the computer – for the billionth time in his life.

Rubbing an eye he groggily got up and was about to collapse on his bed when he heard a noise. Hesitating a moment he listened. It wasn't a snore; it was more of a… sniff?

As he continued listening he found it didn't sound like something smelling, but sounded watery like the noise-maker was either about to sneeze or was…

Don touched the mouse of his computer. He screen faded into life with alight that stung for a moment. When he could, he looked at the clock in the corner of the screen: 2:28 AM. A day after they gotten back home.

Not sure if he should turn the lights on and wake everyone up, he grabbed a flashlight from his work table and ventured out of his room after flicking on the beam of light.

Keep the light on the floor so he didn't point it directly at anyone, he looked around. The place looked empty, and felt worse as the knowledge that one of the inhabitants will never come walking in from the tunnels, never again break the sound barrier with Mikey on videogames, will now never beat him in chess or come close by cheating using Morse code with Razor.

Looking at the couch he remembered the girl with the broken leg refusing to get up and go to the hospital, the one that Mikey brought into their lives passed out in his arms and had easily accepted them despite him and his brothers' appearances, the one that had saved Mikey from falling off the rooftops, and unwillingly attacked them forcing Leo to do what he did.

He wiped a hand across his eyes. If he was tearing up then he wondered how Razor was taking it. Speaking of Razor, where was he? Don wondered as he was now looking at the deserted couch.

Hearing the sniffing again he traced it behind him in the kitchen. As he turned around there was the sound of a muffled yelp. Holding the flashlight up to examine the area he found Razor sitting at the table, a blanket wrapped loosely around him, and the thumb knuckle and wrist in his mouth, a trickle of red started to run down the grey skin.

Don walked forward to be by the table. "You're capable of doing serious damage like that, you know."

If Razor heard him the boy didn't show it as his lips trembled around his hand. It was impossible not to notice the redness growing around his eyes as the water collected behind the lids.

Apparently ignoring the comment, Razor's eyes squeezed shut and he bit down harder causing the ribbon of blood to grow as others appeared around it, the liquid collecting under his hand and fell in drops onto his blanket and legs.

Don stepped forward knowing that if he let the boy continued there was the possibility of him actually biting his thumb off. "Razor, stop it." He grabbed the boy's wrist and pulled in hopes of separating the flesh from the mouth but Razor sank his teeth in deeper. "Razor," he said sternly. "Come on, let… go." He wrestled with the boy but before he could do anything good Razor would pull away and bite harder, increasing the blood flow.

Leo must have heard the struggle from the chair legs scraping on the floor and woke up because he appeared from the dark. Seeing the struggled by the dim light from the flashlight that was now on the table, he quickly came forward.

But even with Leo's help the two couldn't' separate Razor from himself as the boy kept his jaw locked in place.

Raph, who had gotten up to pee, looked at what all the noise was and just blurted "What the shell are you guys doing?"

"Razor won't let go of himself," Don said as they continued to struggle. Razor gave a strangled whine as he tried to rip free from the two brothers' grasp.

Even though he wasn't really sure what was going on exactly, Raph knew how to fix the problem, remembering something back when Dev and Bomber had ganged up on Razor. He grabbed one of his sais, pushed Leo aside, grabbed Razor's arm so he'd stay still, and rammed the blunt handle hard into the boy's side, right where the middle gill was located. The sudden blow made Razor gasp in pain and he let go of his bloodied hand for a second. Don and Leo took advantage of the second and grabbed Razor's arms before he could stick anything else into his carnivorous mouth.

Razor twisted and wrenched as he gave out grunted whines and cried instead of words knowing his voice would crack if he yelled at them to let go. As he jerked and yanked he made sure to keep his eyes shut, feeling the hot water building against his will. He knew that if he didn't distract himself with a physical pain he wouldn't be able to control himself.

With all the commotion Mikey woke up. He sat up in bed and looked around. Finding the sounds coming from outside his room he curiously, but somberly, got up to investigate.

When he walked out of his room he got a strange sight. Now with even more confusion he silently walked forward.

"Razor, knock it off," Don said as he and Leo held the shark-boy's arms back from harm. "Biting your thumb off won't do anything, what's the matter with you?"

Though an answer wasn't given, Raph figured it out. With Don hiding the kid's face from Mikey – who had appeared in the kitchen – and his other two brothers too busy to notice, Raph was in the only position to see it, and he wished he hadn't.

A single tear had escaped Razor's defenses and rolled down his cheek. From there Razor knew he couldn't stop as he lost his strength to struggle, along with the strength to control it.

Leo and Don loosened their grip as the arms slowed then gradually stopped. They let got after a moment and Razor just let the limbs fall to his sides like heavy weights as the twin steams feely flowed on either side of his nose.

Mikey sagged with guilt as Razor – a war tough soldier that had spent his entire life fighting robots, torture, and scientists – started crying. It was only worse when Razor choked trying to stop himself, stuffed to cut the water works but couldn't. If only Mike could have done something. If I wasn't so weak I could have fought instead of getting knocked down and needing to be protected. If I wasn't so helpless Leo might not have had done what he did…

Raph put a hand on Razor's shaking shoulder. He knelt down so he was somewhat eye level. "Oy, Razor, we know yer sad – so are we, but you gotta shut off the waterfalls before you get us started."

"Yeah, no one wants to see ninja cry," Don said.

Mikey slowly came forward, the youngest looking on the verge of overflow too in a terrible mix of guilt and sadness. He hadn't said a word since they got off Liberty Island, while everyone else had kept to themselves with their comforts. Don had stayed in his room all day working on the latest invention. Raph murdered his punching bag and lifted weights until he almost passed out, only coming out to eat. Leo meditated and talked with Master Splinter, continuously saying he hadn't done it purposely but no matter how many times he said it he didn't feel any better.

Razor grabbed the blanket and pressed his face into it, really trying to control himself. He could remember crying over Sharp. He wasn't able to do anything right when he finally realized his brother wasn't coming back. That was when the first of his scars were given. Now Alex was gone and again it was all the scientists' fault. They weren't there to force him to get over it, but he tried. Holding his breath until he choked, smothering himself in the blanket. Nothing worked.

After possibly ten minutes Leo patted his shoulder. "Come on, maybe you'll feel better outside."

Hiccupping and wobbly with a bandaged hand, Razor was led up and out into the night. The guys offered to take him to the river, the bridge, anywhere near water. But he shook his head and pointed up at the buildings.

Here they were scattered out in the open air. Razor was lying on his back looking up at the sky, eyes drying in the wind. Raph and Don were sitting on the edge of the roof. Leo stood with crossed arms at the corner of the building, able to see the Statue of Liberty in the distance, knowing what was underground over there. While Mikey stood on the opposite side of the roof looking out into the distance.

There was something just telling him it couldn't be true. Out of everything she's been through Alex couldn't possibly be… be… "I can't even think it," Mikey muttered miserably.

Razor just couldn't believe it. Part of his heart ached like the time he realized that Sharp was never going to come back, but the other part told him it wasn't true. Alex always left, but she always came back. She always did… he thought. Always…

The tears returned and he sat up wiping them away. "You're still out there," he whispered bringing his knees up to his chest. "You gotta be."

Mikey heard Razor behind him and shook his head. He started pacing. Just like that… he thought. One hit, just like that. It seemed too easy. Way too easy. But he saw all the blood. The blade went right through her. But it was too easy; no one should be able to go that easy. But-

"Ng!" Mikey stumbled back when everything just went black. He grabbed at his face and pulled off a cloth. He felt it between his fingers but couldn't see what it was as the moon passed behind a cloud. Holding it out, he could see that it was kind of big and square. Looking around for a light he wound up looking down. The fire escape was under him, and down three stories one of the windows was lit up.

With a glance over his shoulder he started down the escape. Leaning against the wall beside the window he edged the cloth into the light, trying not to get caught by whoever was up this early. When he saw what the cloth was he almost dropped it.

Clutching the green bandana in a fist Mikey ran up the fire escape as fast as his human body would allow. He jumped on the roof, tripped, banged a knee and scrambled back up. He slid to a stop and fell to his knees in his rush.

"What's with you?" Razor asked giving him a sideways glance.

"Look!" Mikey exclaimed his first word in the past twenty-four hours.

Not even sure what it was, Razor grabbed the bandana. He looked at it, trying to see past the darkness of night, but it wasn't his eyes that told him what it was. It was his nose. Even though his nose was partly clogged from the crying he could still catch the smell. It was familiar underneath the scent of smoke. "Where'd you get this?" he asked.

"It attacked me."

"What's going on?" Leo asked coming over at their voices.

Razor got to his feet, wiping at his damp cheeks. He held up the cloth. "It's my bandana! I recognize it from the smell."

"But that's impossible," Don said, he too coming to investigate what they were talking about. "Alex still had it when… yeah." None of them seemed able to actually say it.

Razor looked down at the cloth knowing Don was right. "I'm going insane…" he muttered. "My senses are screwing me over…" It happened all the time back in the labs when someone he was actual friends with were taken and never came back, he'd have realistic dreams about them for weeks, kept thinking he could hear their voice when it was impossible. When suddenly one of his ears jerked, "You guys hear that?" he asked looking around.

"Hear what?" Mikey asked.

"That," Razor said turning around to look at the surrounding rooftops.

"That what?"

"Shut up and listen!" Razor hissed and concentrated. _Clang… tap-tap-tap… Tap-tap-tap… clang-clang-clang… tap-tap-tap…_ _Tap-tap-tap…_

"S?" Don muttered.

"O-S," Razor finished and took off at a run.

"Razor!" Don called as the boy jumped across the alley. The swimmer's landing was anything but graceful as he stumbled but continued forward nonetheless.

"We'd better catch him before he falls," Leo said and the four gave chase.

As he ran Razor's mind was simply confused. On one hand Razor knew that his lifetime friend was gone, he'd overheard Leo telling Splinter the story, but on the other hand his bandana and that clanging had to come from somewhere. So, instead of dealing with the headache of sorting realty from denial, and thinking about the plummet to the ground a couple stories below, he just concentrated on tracking that continuous sound.

_Tap-tap-tap…clang-clang-clang…tap-tap-tap Tap-tap-tap…clang-clang-clang…tap-tap-tap ...--... ...--... ...--... SOS SOS_ the simplest pattern of Morse code there was.

In the run across the roofs the boy was nowhere near graceful as he continuously tripped and stumbled, and almost fell a few times, barely saving himself by grabbing the handy fire escapes, until finally he stopped and the tapping pattern stopped with him.

"Damn," Raph said as they finally caught up to Razor. "Why are you so fast?"

"No style…" Mikey muttered shaking his head.

"Uh… Razor?" Leo asked looking at the boy. It looked like he hadn't even noticed the turtles (and human Mikey) around him as he just stared forward. After a moment he lifted a hand and pointed. The guys followed the finger and found they were on the roof with a water tower. Sticking out of the top of the water tower was a long narrow object, the steel blade somehow catching the moonlight.

"Now that's impossible," Don muttered.

Cautiously Leo walked forward, not sure if he wanted it to really be his katana or not. When he was close to the tower there was a flash of movement and a force suddenly hit him in the plastron. It caught him by surprise and he landed on his shell with whatever hit him sitting on top, a finger pointing at him between the eyes.

On reflex Leo's brothers jumped forward defensively but stopped when they heard the voice.

"You stabbed me."

* * *

Zombie!!

Oh (cough, cough), uh... yeah. Anyway, yeah this chapter is pretty short. Poor Razor, first time he cried in eighteen years... will it be for nothing??

If I'm correct there will be one last chapter to wrap things up, and maybe an epilouge or something... I'm not really sure yet.

Yes I know that SOS has 3 dashes, but everytime I put them in fanfiction erases one, its very annoying and I can't figure how to fix that, so I'm just going to leave it.

Um... yeah, right now its like 1:00 in the morning, and I have a huge headache so I'm gonna go to bed and try to start the finish of the story tomorrow/today... whatever. I'm going to bed, see ya guys later.


	29. Alive and Free

**Chapter Twenty-Nine**

**Alive and Free**

"Alex?!" they exclaimed in unbelieving surprise.

The dark figure looked up at them. "Hi guys. Hey!" she exclaimed when a pair of bodies knocked her off Leo in a tight embrace. "Uh- Good to see you too," she said laughingly squeezed between Razor and Mikey.

"We thought you were dead!" Razor exclaimed.

"Yeah what gives?" Raph asked as Leo stood up.

"Well if it makes you feel any better I could just go jump off a roof," Alex said. "And guys, can I stand up?" she asked the ones hugging her. They finally let go and Alex got to her feet.

"I don't get it," Don said. "Didn't Leo…?"

"Oh he did," Alex confirmed nodding. "Left a nice scar too."

Don scratched his head. "Then- how…?"

"Am I standing here?" the girl finished for him, and touched her head thinking. "You know, it's a little fuzzy but I think it happened something like…"

-The Night Before-

"She's gone Mike, now let's go before we are too."

As the four brothers left the dead body lying in its own pool of blood the room continued to destroy itself. The ground shook, the walls rumbled, the lights flickered and the ceiling threatened to come down. Then, after a few minutes, there was a final explosion that sent a choking smoke through every open space.

The explosion was the end for the ceiling and the machines hanging over the body did themselves in, falling to the ground in a heap of charred, broken metal and sparking wires.

As the machines lay, spluttering in the last few minutes of electric life, one of them had partially landed on the chest of the lifeless girl, crushing the right arm as it did so. In its final resting place, a few of the machine's broken wires were touching exposed skin. Still hot with mechanical life, the wires' electricity jumped into the arm and immediately found the metal bones underneath the skin. Now with somewhere to go, the electricity spread through the body, coursing over metal and bone, through muscle and dead nerves, up and down the spine and in milliseconds found a brain and heart, and fried a small robotic bug in the process.

In the silence that was falling inside the abandoned room something near impossible happened. There was a single sound inside the chest: _thdump… _And within that single heartbeat the body did was it was made to do, even without the brain to tell it to. The cuts on the front and back of the chest started to close as blood pushed through the veins.

The blood reached the brain as the heart beat a second time, pushing more blood to the brain. With the body rapidly repairing itself like how it was made to do the brain started to revive.

Then, almost charitably, the machine gave the last of its electricity to the body before it died.

"Ow!" the girl muttered, jerking in pain. That stung a little… she thought and looked around in the darkness. Ugh… what happened?

It took a few minutes for the last few moments of her life to come back to her.

Oh yeah… Did I die? I might of… I don't know, but I can't move my arm…

-Present Time-

"…and when I finally got the strength to push the machine off of me and stand up I worked my way outside," Alex finished. "Man it took forever to find my way around in total darkness, then I almost fell down the elevator shaft, and that was a freak'n long ladder when I started up it. From there I washed off in the river and came to the city, had to be careful with the sun rising though."

Don could hardly believe it, the chances of what Alex had said actually happening were more than .25 in a trillion. It seemed completely impossible for something like that to happen, and yet here Alex was alive and well.

Of course most everyone else didn't care about the odds, though Leo had to admit that if there were miracles in the world this was one of them.

"Where have you been all day?" Razor asked.

"Hey we just spent how long underground? I was enjoying the sunshine!"

"You asshole, I cried over you!" Razor yelled at her and lunged at her.

"Ah!" Alex exclaimed and jumped to the side, putting her hands up in surrender as she backed up from the shark until she ran out of roof to stand on. "Now come on Razor, let's not do something you'll regret."

"Oh I'm not gonna kill ya yet," Razor said and jumped at her.

"Razor!" Alex exclaimed when he rammed into her, knocking them back and off the building.

The four ninjas still on the roof ran to the edge in surprise though there was nothing to worry about. At the sound of flapping Alex lifted back up in the air with Razor clinging to her arms.

"Boy, if I didn't have wings…" Alex said smiling as she dropped Razor back onto the building.

Razor's legs collapsed as he sat down. "Wow, I think I'm scared of heights now."

"You're the one that pushed us off," Alex said as she landed and turned to the guys. "I'm glad to see that all of you made it okay, even with the little… uh… encounter. I can't exactly apologize for cutting you guys," she said to Raph and Don. "Its not like I wanted to, but I'm sorry anyways. And I guess everything worked out with Razor because I ran into Gorf around 1:00 today. He's having the time of his life with all the flies hanging around the dumpsters and trashcans. I wonder if everyone else made it."

"There's really no way to know," Don said.

Razor nodded. "We're scattered. I bet Stripes is already in Japan, he's always wanted to try authentic sushi."

"I bet Sal's already found a way to Egypt," Alex said.

"How can a person stand that kind of heat?" Razor asked rhetorically.

"Salamander blood," Alex answered anyway and stretched. "Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for my traveling to bed. Getting killed really takes it out of a person."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"…and that's where we've been," Leo finally finished as they sat in April O'Neil's apartment, Mikey and Raph fighting over the last slice of pizza until Alex grabbed it. It was the next day and everyone was feeling pretty good knowing Alex was alive and they were all cleaned up with everything now in the past. They had decided to visit April since they hadn't seen her in two weeks. It surprised all of them at how much time they had been trapped in the labs.

"The days blend together easy when you can't see the sun," Razor had said "especially when no one around you can physically grow."

When they first showed up at her door hugs were given, and Mikey was hurt when she hadn't recognized him right away. What surprised them was when they met Casey Jones sitting on the couch as they walked into the living room. Apparently, since he wasn't of any interest to the scientists, they had gassed him, knocked him on the head hard enough that it cracked his skull (he was still wearing bandages), and then was dumped in a dumpster only to wake up two days later with an unbelievable headache unable to remember much.

"Quite a story, huh?" Razor said as he sat upside down on the couch.

"Its never anything normal," Don sighed.

"If you haven't checked a mirror in a while, we're not pretty normal ourselves," Mikey said.

"Actually Mike, you're the most normal looking out of all of us," Alex said.

"Yeah, you're so normal you don't fit in with a group of mutants and experiments," Razor said jokingly.

Mikey looked down at his pale, five fingered, shell-less body with something of a pout.

"Heh, if he's normal I'm glad I'm still a turtle," Raph said jabbing a thumb in Mike's direction.

"There any way we can change me back?" Mikey asked Don.

"It don't matter what you look like Mike," Leo said. "You're still family."

"I know," Mikey said. "But still."

"Actually, Mikey," Alex said. "You could be taking advantage of this."

"What do you mean?"

"You look just as human as April or Casey," Alex explained. "Unlike your bros, you can walk topside whenever you want without any cover."

"Hey, why didn't I think of that?"

"'Cause you can't think," Raph said.

"Mikey in the city during the day?" Don asked thoughtfully. "Why can't I see anything good coming from that?"

"Don't worry, we'll watch him," Razor said and gave a toothy smile.

"Yeah, as long as no one actually _looks _at you two," Leo said.

Alex looked at her black hands. "I'm probably gonna need a pair of gloves."

"I still can't understand how anyone could miss shark boy's mouth," Casey said. "Or his breath."

"Seriously," Alex said plugging her nose. "You should really take a look at this new invention, it's called a _toothbrush_."

"You kidding? A toothbrush doesn't stand a chance against that backed up garbage disposal," Raph said.

"What is this 'toothbrush' that everyone keeps talking about?" Razor asked playfully.

"Hey," Alex said. "I know what Razor's getting for his first Christmas present."

"Like he'll actually use it," Don said.

"Razor Mouth will use a toothbrush before he dies," Alex declared. "Even if I have to hold him down and do it for him."

"That a challenge?"

"Dude," Mikey said. "I'd say it sounded more like a threat."

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

"So that was our story," the sharp mouth sighed.

"Yep," his companion nodded, feeling the blood rush down to pool in her head. "I'd say it was pretty good, considering everything that happened."

The boy leaned back on the large metal girder he was laying on, listening to the traffic zooming by over head, pedestrians completely unaware of the existence of the teen bodies hanging out under their racing tires. "Do you think it's over?"

"Hm…" The girl put a fist to her mouth in thought, looking up at the dark water. After a time she crossed her arms. "I don't think so. I mean a story like ours? Something tells me this is only part one."

"And what would that something be?"

"Oh I don't know; let's just call it a feeling."

"You gotta agree though, that was a lot that happened."

"Defiantly," the girl agreed as a wind swung her body. "But you also have to agree that a bunch of freaks like us never live inside only one plot."

The boy thought about it, listening to the odd mixture of lapping waves and honking horns. After a time he sighed again. "Yeah I guess you're right. But what's part two going to be about? And when does our story end?"

"It's impossible to know what will happen next until it happens," the girl said and thought about the second question for a few minutes. Finally she said "And I guess the ending's when the last character's dead."

"Well in that case, our story's going to be going for a whi-"

"Gotcha!"

"Holy crap!" the shark boy exclaimed and lost his balance on the girder as the human frog jumped out from nowhere in the late night shadows.

"Oops…" The new arrival slapped both hands over his mouth.

Alex held back a laugh and unhooked her tail from the girder and fell after the falling body. Grabbing around the middle she flapped her wings and took them back up to the underside of the bridge.

"Gorf I'm gonna kill you!" Razor yelled and jumped at the boy when Alex let go of him.

"Ah! Alex!" Gorf cried for help and jumped to the next girder with Razor right behind him. The dry chase didn't last long as Gorf ran out of places to run, so instead of facing his opponent he jumped off the bridge and dove. Without wasting a second Razor jumped after him. As soon as they hit the water the chase resumed.

"There you two are," Leo said dropping down to sit beside the girl. "How long have you guys been hiding here?"

Sitting under the bridge, Alex smiled and laughed to herself as she watched the dorsal fin cutting through the surface of the water until it dove down into the depths after its prey. "Oh, about an hour," Alex said. "Who's It?"

"Gorf was," Leo said as he looked down into the water. "He said he'd figure Razor would be somewhere near the river. Though I'd imagine you guys would be sick of this water."

Alex shrugged. "I have nothing against being _over_ it, but I never want to be underneath it again. So how long do you figure Mikey will be up to this city wide game of Tag?"

"We're hoping he'll tire of it soon," Leo said honestly. "Though it is a good way of training, but don't tell Mike I said that."

"Let me guess, there's stealth, speed, agility, and I'd have to guess balance, stamina… and knowing you're surroundings," Alex listed off. "I guess it is kind of like training."

Leo looked around at the hiding spot. "So what have you two been doing down here?"

Alex shrugged again. "Just talking about what's going to happen now. I mean, everyone's free to do what they want. No one's dead that shouldn't be as far as we know, and I feel like a free man- kid- person- whatever," she stumbled trying to think of a correct title. "I'd say this is a pretty good ending to some story."

"A very odd story," Leo said.

"Sci-Fi fantasy," Alex said and settled back, a leg dangling over the edge of the girder. "Like some of the comics Mikey reads. And anyway, as I was telling Razor before Gorf appeared what if everything that's happened was only part one of a story? Like if a whole new adventure is waiting to happen? Like when they made sequels to movies."

"Well our lives never do get boring for long," Leo said. "And it seems the strangest things happen to us. It wouldn't surprise me if something else happened in the future."

"Question is: What?" Alex thought out loud when there was splashing down below. Leo and Alex looked under them and saw ferocious splashing and bubbling in the shadow of the bridge from a fight (or a mugging) under the water's surface.

Alex rolled her eyes and quietly laughed to herself as she watched. Yep, she thought, our kind of story can't really be over yet…

* * *

I admit it, I may be evil enough to kill my own characters but for some reason I can't keep them dead. It's weird (and somewhat sad) but whatever.

There ya go, I told you guys this story was going to be completed, though I'm not sure if there's going to be an epilogue. There might be, it depends if I feel like writing it, and as they say, there will more than likely be a sequal, but I'm still figuring it out. So until next time...

And come on guys, review! (no I'm not begging)


	30. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Toothbrushes and Mistletoe**

"I come with food!" Mikey announced cheerfully as he walked into the lair holding up plastic bags. He was wrapped in an orange and white coat, cheeks and nose red from the cold winter wind.

Razor lugged in behind him in a black and red snow coat with a collar that covered his mouth, large rubber snow boots, a black ski hat with flaps that covered his ears, bright red cheeks that contrasted horribly with his grey skin, a runny nose and a glare that could freeze fire. He was also carrying a few bags in black mittens.

Don looked up from decorating the tree with the decorations from their childhood Christmases, including a line of origami cranes that had originally replaced the seasonal string of lights. "You okay Razor?"

The boy stomped his feet to get any snow that hadn't fallen off in the sewers already, and practically stomped to the kitchen with the big, clumsy boots. He put the bags on the table and hopped up and down on one foot so he could take the boots off after uncovering his ears. "I- hate- snow!" he said on each hop.

"Its only partially frozen water," Don said matter-of-factly.

"He's just sore because it's cold," Alex said walking up to the tree with a small pile of colorfully wrapped boxes that she slid underneath the tree's bristly branches.

"Next _you_ can be the one to go out there and fall on your ass on ice and walk with Mr. Must-Step-In-Slush," Razor said crossly as he kicked the boots off and started to unzip the coat.

"Oh but didn't you hear? We were taking you along to Central Park for a snowball fight later tonight."

"Not funny Leo," the frozen shark snapped, throwing his coat on the couch and dug through the bags for the box of instant hot chocolate. "I like liquid water, _li-quid_. Gas is okay too, but not solid. Water is not meant to be solid!" He found the box and tore it open with his teeth to extract one of the packets and started making the drink. "Not even partially solid."

Leo rolled his eyes with a smile as he helped Mikey put the food away, while Raph was doing the aggravating task of untangling the Christmas lights before they could put them up, which – for some reason – involved silently cursing and muttering crossly to the knotted wires.

When they were done putting the food away Mikey looked at the tree that stood in the middle of the room. There was already a small collection of presents underneath the branches and he wished Don had invented X-ray goggles. He had already quietly made plans to himself to sneak a few peeks that night when everyone was asleep. Surely Santa wouldn't think much of it for just a little look.

Razor sat at the table, a blanket stolen from Alex's bed wrapped around his shoulders, hands cupped around a steaming mug, hat still on his head. "I liked Halloween better," he sniffed.

"I still wonder why you two went in costumes," Don said.

"Yeah, you could have gone as yourselves," Mikey said. "No one would have suspected a thing."

"Just wanted the experience," Razor said, taking a gulp from his mug. He felt the hot liquid flow down his throat and spread through his chest and smiled at the heat. "Was our first holiday after all," he added.

"I'll tell ya what," Alex said as she walked over to help Raph who was about to break something with frustration at the lights. "We'll go as our plain selves next year, see what kind of reaction we get."

While Alex and Raph worked on the lights Leo and Don finished the tree and Razor helped Mikey with the rest of the decorations around the lair. When everyone was done with their self given jobs the lair didn't look half bad. Once Razor warmed up from his frozen trek across town with Mikey the place started to grow a cheerful feeling, and Razor finished the decorations by grabbing the red glowing orb he had taken from the giant robot the night he had escaped the labs, and tied it to the top of the tree in place of the usual angel.

Not much had happened since all the experiments had claimed their freedom. They were sure that everyone was doing okay in the world, though they hadn't heard a word from anyone except Gorf who seemed to pop up at the most unexpected times. The frog-boy was a little annoying at times, but Don liked having another technical brain around when Gorf was helping him with an invention. Now as they hung around as a family watching Christmas specials, Mikey practically pushing Alex, Razor, and Gorf (who had seemed to just walk out of thin air) into the couch when they told him they had never seen _Rudolph the_ _Red Nose Reindeer_, or _Frosty the Snowman_, or _The Santa Clause_.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

That night, with everyone dressed up for the snow, they dragged Razor back outside for the promised snowball fight. It hadn't taken long for the fight to progress into a full scale war complete with sneak attacks, bombing, tackles, double crossing, snow down the shirts, plots for revenge, and hiding for your life behind a tree.

They didn't call it quits until Razor was coughing and sneezing, Mikey couldn't feel his legs, Don could barely stay standing, Alex couldn't stand, Leo's hands were numb, Raph was shivering with all the snow that made its way down his shell, and Gorf got his tongue stuck to a streetlight.

"Don' 'eave me 'ere!" the boy cried in his sudden lisp.

"We'll be right back," Don promised. "We're just going to go get some hot water so you don't have to rip your tongue off."

"We could just cut it off and be done with it."

"No' funneh Raph," Gorf said and grabbed Razor's arm before he could walk out of reach. "Stah wit' me, pwease?"

Razor grabbed Mikey and pushed him into the pole. "You stay out here."

Mikey started to walk away from the pole and stopped when he tugged on his tongue. "Ah mah…"

Gorf started laughing at his companion as the others walked away. They stood shivering in the snow with their tongues frozen to the cold metal for what felt like hours until Don, Leo, and Alex appeared with steaming cups.

"Finaweh," Gorf said as Alex poured the hot water on his tongue while Mikey's brothers did the same for him. With a few tugs the boys became unstuck with only a few missing taste buds.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

A few days later on the night before Christmas Eve, Mikey crept out of his room using all his ninja stealth as possible, being careful not to rouse Razor as he passed the couch and headed for the tree.

Slowly he got down onto his knees and scanned over the colorful boxes. The first one he found with his name on the tag was rectangular but not very thick. Looking around him he started to undo the tape, careful not to rip the paper. He flinched as it tore a little and quickly looked around. When no one seemed to have heard he continued with the wrapping, but before he could get a look a voice cut through the silent air.

"Mike, what are you doing?"

Mikey quickly dropped the present at the sight of a tired Razor looking over the top of the couch. "Uh- nothing!" he quietly exclaimed and pushed a box that was already underneath the tree farther in. "I was just- uh- putting a present with the others, that's all." Mike got to his feet. "Uh, just- go back to sleep," he said and hurried off to his room.

Razor shook his head and lay back down.

...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--... ...--...

On Christmas Morning, after a good sleep on full stomachs from a chaotic dinner where everyone tried to help cook, Mikey and Gorf teamed up to be the alarm clock. As Mikey hopped up and down in his brothers' and father's rooms Gorf shook Alex and Razor until they were ready to kill him.

But the two had to wait another hour when they were told breakfast came first. Then there were the dishes and putting everything away. When they were finally done Mikey and Gorf ran for the tree and practically fell over as they sat down by it.

Not in quite the rush Raph and Alex turned the couch around and pushed it closer for a place to sit.

Presents were given to their owners until Razor got his first one, from Alex. It was small and rectangular. He tore the wrapping off and opened the box underneath. He gave Alex a look saying 'I can't believe you' and pulled out a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste.

"I told you," Alex said with a wide smile.

"Like he'll use it though," Mikey said.

"But now he can't say he doesn't have one," Alex pointed out.

The next one to open his present was Mikey. He held a tiny white box with a red ribbon keeping the lid down. He pulled the ribbon, opened the box, and dropped a black lump into his hand.

"Is that coal?" Don asked.

"Hey there's somethin' else," Raph said and grabbed a slip of paper that had fallen to the floor. On one side it read simply:

Naughty

Impatience

Raph looked confusedly at it and showed everyone else.

When no one was looking Razor caught Mikey's eye and smiled like he held a secret.

After all the presents were opened there was the tedious task of picking up all the torn wrapping paper to throw in the trash, and then everyone put their new belongings away. When that was done the day was spent playing games and hanging around, Razor yet to try out his toothbrush.

Then it happened.

Alex was sitting on the couch watching TV when Razor sat down, grabbed the remote, and changed the channel.

"Hey I was watching that!" the girl exclaimed.

"And now I'm watching this," Razor said.

"Give me back the remote seaweed head," Alex said and reached for the control but Razor kept it out of reach.

"No," he said simply as they started fighting over it.

"Give it!"

"Make me!"

"Fish breath!"

"Air head!"

"Gr…"

In the struggling they fell off the couch. Razor got to his feet and ran with the remote still in his hand. Alex tackled him and they went rolling across the floor. When they stopped Razor still had the remote, just barely out of reach of Alex's outstretched fingers.

"Uh, guys…?" Gorf said walking out of the kitchen with a mug of hot chocolate.

"What?" they asked distractedly together.

"Look up," Mikey said holding back a small laugh.

Still fighting over the remote they moved their eyes to the ceiling and found a bundle of green leaves with white berries hanging over their heads – mistletoe. They looked at each other for a moment, then, forgetting about the remote, quickly got to their feet and ran in opposite directions. But before they could get too far away a smiling Raph and Mikey grabbed them and pushed them back under the plant.

"You cannot be serious," Razor said.

"I can't kiss this garbage disposal!" Alex exclaimed.

"Yeah, and I can't kiss Alex because… because it's Alex!" Razor said.

"Exact- hey wait a minute, what's that supposed to be mean?"

"Stop procrastinating," Gorf said.

The two looked at each other. Razor stuffed his hands down his pockets. Alex rubbed the back of her neck and crossed her arms. They each squeezed their eyes shut and slowly leaned forward.

To speed things up Raph and Mikey pushed on their backs, and the two's lips hit. They stood there for a few seconds before they pulled apart and dashed for the bathroom as Gorf started laughing.

"Well," Leo said after walking in with Don just in time to see Alex and Razor together. "At least Razor will finally use that toothbrush."

* * *

Okay, I decided to write the epilogue, I don't know why, its not even near Christmas time, but I've had this idea stuck in my head for a while so I just added it, and I felt bad for the ending of the story. I don't know, I dont think it sounded right, but that was all I could come up with for the actual ending. Most of my ideas went towards the middle and climax-area. And and as I said before, there will more than likely be a second one. But for now, this story is now complete, and it didnt even take a year to write.

and Im going to have to ask as always: REVIEW!!


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